Energy Trends

Closing date for submissions is 13 September 2010.

Electricity Week

GULF OF MEXICO: Icelike crystals have formed on the 300-tonne blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. The icing-up is forcing BP crews to wait before they can safely hoist the device to the...

NZ Herald Oil and Gas

NEW ORLEANS: BP PLC was on Saturday slowly raising the 300-ton blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, careful not to damage or drop a key piece of evidence in the spill investigation.When...

NZ Herald Oil and Gas

Profits for shareholders was the most important thing, and no open share issue was planned, Michael Fraser, Managing Director, AGL, told the market as AGL analysts rummaged in the NSW Treasury data room as a dominant bidder in the NSW sale process for Energy Australia, Country Energy, and Integral, and generators Delta, Macquarie and Eraring.

Electricity Week

AGL reported late August, 2010, its renewables generation intentions, - under contruction and committed - to meet its Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) Obligation.

Electricity Week

pickens writes "David Pogue writes in the NY Times that when you buy a new Windows PC, it comes festooned with stickers on the palm rests: one for Windows, one for Skype, one for Intel, one for the laptop company, maybe an Energy Star sticker and so on. ''It''s like buying a new, luxury car — and discovering that it comes with non-removable bumper stickers that promote the motor oil, the floor mat maker, the windshield-fluid company and the pine tree air freshener you have no intention of ever using,'' writes Pogue. But the worst thing is that when you peel them off, they shred, leaving adhesive crud behind. ''When you''ve just spent big bucks on a laptop, should you really be obligated to spend the first 20 minutes trying to dissolve away the sticker goop with WD40?'' But AMD has a solution. Starting next year, AMD will switch to new stickers that peel off easily, leaving no residue; after that, it''s considering eliminating the sticker program altogether." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

The 2010 Electricity Statement Of Opportunities for the National Electricity Market, released 1 September, 2010, by AEMO, (Australian Energy Market Operator) expects "climate change policies will, over time, change the way in which Australia produces and consumes electricity".

Electricity Week

aarondubrow writes "Three years ago, researchers from Caltech and The University of Texas at Austin came together to create a computational tool that could model the Earth and answer the most pressing questions in geophysics: What controls the speed of plates? How do microplates interact? How much energy do the plates generate and how does it dissipate? Using a new geodynamics software package they developed, the researchers have modeled plate motion with greater accuracy than ever before. The project is also a finalist for the Gordon Bell Prize — high performance computing''s Oscar — at this year''s SC10 conference." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

An engineer has poured cold water on Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee''s draft energy strategy involving reduction of fossil-fuel power and more emphasis on wind generation.The Government has called for 90 per cent of New Zealand''s...

NZ Herald electricity

A new initiative between national grid operator Transpower and businesses will help ease electricity demand pressures in the upper North Island at crucial times, says Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee.Transpower said yesterday that...

NZ Herald electricity

thecarchik writes "It is not an easy task to compare the environmental effects of battery powered cars to those caused by conventionally fueled automobiles. The degree to which manufacture, usage and disposal of the batteries used to store the necessary electrical energy are detrimental to the environment is not exactly known. Now, for the first time, a team of Empa scientists have made a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) or ecobalance of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, in particular the chemically improved (i.e. more environmentally friendly) version of the ones most frequently used in electric vehicles. Researchers decided to find out for sure. They calculated the ecological footprints of electric cars fitted with Li-ion batteries, taking into account all possible relevant factors, from those associated with the production of individual parts all the way through to the scrapping of the vehicle and the disposal of the remains, including the operation of the vehicle during its lifetime." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

The above shows AGL hedge position for all Australian states for the 2011-2012 year ahead.

Electricity Week

suraj.sun writes with this snippet from CNET: "The EPA and Department of Transportation on Monday proposed a fuel economy label overhaul to reflect how electric and alternative fuel vehicles stack up against gasoline passenger vehicles. ... The changed label, mandated by the 2007 energy law, includes the same information on city and highway miles per gallon and estimated driving costs based on 15,000 miles a year now available. But the new labels add more comparative information, rating cars on mileage, greenhouse gas contribution, and other air pollutants from tailpipe emissions. That means that consumers can look at a label to see how one vehicle compares to all available vehicles, rather than only cars in a specific class. One label proposes grades, ranging from an A-plus to a D. There are no failing grades, since vehicles need to comply with the Clean Air Act." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

theodp writes "Universities really should tell engineering students what to expect in the long term and how to manage their technical careers. Citing ex-Microsoft CTO David Vaskevitch''s belief that younger workers have more energy and are sometimes more creative, Wadwha warns that reports of ageism''s death have been greatly exaggerated. While encouraging managers to consider the value of the experience older techies bring, Wadwha also offers some get-real advice to those whose hair is beginning to grey: 1) Move up the ladder into management, architecture, or design; switch to sales or product management; jump ship and become an entrepreneur. 2) If you''re going to stay in programming, realize that the deck is stacked against you, so be prepared to earn less as you gain experience. 3) Keep your skills current — to be coding for a living when you''re 50, you''ll need to be able to out-code the new kids on the block. Wadwha''s piece strikes a chord with 50-something Dave Winer, who calls the rampant ageism ''really f***ed up,'' adding that, ''It''s probably the reason why we keep going around in the same loops over and over, because we chuck our experience, wholesale, every ten years or so.''" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

Genesis Energy reported a better than forecast net profit after tax for the year to June 30 of $69 million, thanks to favourable wholesale market hedge settlements and cost savings initiatives, chief executive Albert Brantley announced...

NZ Herald Oil and Gas

The business world watched critically as BP''s Tony Hayward made a hash of handling the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Who can forget his "I want my life back," as the livelihoods of thousands of Louisiana families were devastated?As...

NZ Herald Oil and Gas

eldavojohn writes "Details are limited but state media is reporting on $75 million being put into a new research facility in Qingdao, Shandong Province that will conduct research into mining the sea floor. From the article: ''Scientists believe sea beds at a depth of 4,000 to 6,000 meters hold abundant deposits of rare metals and methane hydrate, a solidified form of natural gas bound into ice that can serve as a new energy source.'' The research center''s first goal is to do surveying and exploration with a new submersible named ''Jiaolong'' (a mythical aquatic Chinese dragon). Hopefully these quests yield energy resources to meet growing demand for resources like liquefied coal in China." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

Faith Singer at TACC writes "The term ''supercomputing'' usually evokes images of large, expensive computer systems that calculate unfathomable algorithms and run on enough energy to support a small city. Now, imagine a supercomputer, but run on the electrical equivalent of three standard-size coffee-makers. This year''s international supercomputing conference, SC10, will feature the Student Cluster Competition that challenges students to build, maintain, and run the most-cutting edge, commercially available high-performance computing (HPC) architectures on just 26 amps of energy." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slashdot

Two New Zealand fuel companies reduced the price of petrol by 2c a litre yesterday - the second drop in less than a week.Greenstone Energy, the company that owns and operates the Shell-branded service station network, and BP both...

NZ Herald Oil and Gas

Origin Energy Ltd has reported a big fall to its statutory full year profit, with results affected by the sell-down last year of its interest in the ALPLNG project.The company - which owns 51 per cent of Contact Energy - reported...

NZ Herald Oil and Gas