How much better it would have been if Labor had announced a significant policy regarding climate change and had voiced some opposition to a vast new coal mine before they went on to lose the election.

In the sunny central west of the state new solar was under construction - a big field of panels in an isolated acerage.  Construction phrase offers jobs and judging by the car park a workforce from all over had assembled west of the village of Nevertire.
 The company is biosar Aus P/L which has activities in many corners of the globe following its beginnings in Greece. There is at least one other large solar power plant in the area.

Change is in the air.  We have all heard of General Electric.  A site named Electrek reports that G E bet on fossil fuels and lost billions in misjudging renewable energy transition.  '
'The multinational profitibility collapse over the past few years can be largely attributed to the company's inability to judge the accelerating pace of the global energy transition from fossil fuels and towards renewables''
'Natural gas and thermal coal were the culprits''

Harbour and foreshore and road works in foreground.  Some of the tall trees have been left standing.

Some years ago when many of us installed solar panels the rebate on electricity costs was reasonably good. As a move towards renewable energy, solar has not been seen in a positive 'light', there has been no rejoicing by the state, in fact, despite the load that households contribute to energy, the power companies have cut rebates and have raised energy costs.
As soon as solar made its appearance every move has supported the power companies, are they out for what they can get before change jeopardises their future.
The excellent move of taxing carbon was blamed for rising prices and against all common sense, the tax was repealed yet the prices continue to rise.
Privatisation and gold plating the electricity network must be another expense put onto the consumer.
At the very time when energy production might be sorted out with gradual change to renewals, the old ways continue to up their anti and put all the pressure on the consumer to pay up. We hear they blame gas prices but that can be got under control if we tried.  What about the costs of coal supplies. Who knows, just another excuse.

Approaching sustainability in the 'red heart'.  Powering up Yulara village where tourists gather to visit nearby Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park

Dew. In no time, free infinite solar power flooded us with sun light and energy.
The liberal government has no reliable plans to support renewable energy.

A mystery.  Our national obsession is coal. Coal industry is everywhere.  Mining is our national past time. Coal fired power generation is our habit. Despite all that, how is it that our electricity costs are possibly the highest in the world?   Natural gas prices are riding high.
Anyway, the future is in green power and it must be a good investment - Rockefeller thinks so. As well as many global activists. They have seen the light.
Our government does not support alternative energy in a big way.

Sunlight will soon warm up everything, solar panel included.  Free power in abundance.

Make hay while the sun shines.
That stupendous power house (just imagine the sound effects) our source of  life, that is the sun, will undergo change. In about 5 billion years, as a red giant, the sun will grow and grow out to earth's orbit and earth could well be incinerated or our water will be boiled away and our air escape into space. What we know of will not last forever. (Data from Wikidedia)

Newcastle is going Solar!
A lot of people have signed-up so that a large purchase of solar panels together with their installation can be done for minium costs.
A Government rebate is another impetus.
As a move to help 'boost the economy' through job creation, the government also plans to subsidise ceiling insulation so as to cut back on household heating and cooling and save energy as a consequence.

CLIMATE ACTION NEWCASTLE .................CAN..............can@climateaction.org.au

NEWCASTLE'S GOING SOLAR

Did you know that with the federal government solar panel rebate of $8000 for a 1kW system you can get grid-connect solar on your roof for between $2000-3000 or less, through Climate Action Newcastle?! You can become a renewable electricity producer, save money, and be a part of Newcastle’s first bulk solar panel installation!

MEETING
A public meeting will be held on Friday 5th September at 5.30 pm at Newcastle High School corner Parkway Avenue & National Park St, Hamilton South. We will be in the hall which is accessed by the gates on National Park Street. The meeting is likely to go for several hours.

At this meeting, Sydney Energy Coop and the CAN committee will introduce ourselves, discuss the program and answer your questions.
As we are sure you can appreciate, this will save a significant amount of time and effort on behalf of CAN to respond to many hundreds of individual enquiries.

The most important and urgent aspect of the project is to have applications for pre-approval for the $8000 Federal Government rebate submitted as soon as possible. The urgency of this step is that there is a 3-6 week turnaround period from the Government, and many people in the Solar Industry remain concerned about how long the rebates will be available despite Government assurances that they will remain in place until June 2009.Our advice is to get preapproved as fast as you can in case the Federal Government changes the rebate program again. SEE the web site.


PS A great spin-off is that the roof may get repaired!