Werewolves..... are stirring......

Power supply.  I might be prepared to turn off the power supply at night in peak summer hours if there was a good financial reward.  Tho it would be worth a lot to me.
There is never much emphasis put on reduction of household demand, just cutting back, turning off some lights etc. We could be made much more aware of saving power.

Road Trip

The state of South Australia was looking near perfect during a quick little tour last month. Good rainfall resulted in thick green crops and bright vistas all round.
Wind turbines - could be anywhere - but these are north of Adelaide S A where wind power was unfairly seen as notorious for the role it played in a state wide power failure in recent times during an extreme weather event.  Climate troubles, yes, and a positive move to overcome this portrayed as second best.
Green power like Green politics falls far short of approval. As if it is on a par with the lowest of the low.

 A closer look at the blade of a wind turbine, its big, and displayed in the same district.  The village was a real scene of horror because of murders most foul committed in the 1990s.
  

This afternoon, protestors blocked the access of coal seam gas workers onto land on the estuary of the Hunter river, up towards Newcastle Airport etc.
Several women were taking direct action by chaining themselves to a tractor in another non-violent 'riot' where the police had began issuing fines. Was it hooliganism? (hooliganism as irony remembering events in Moscow recently)
Will this stop the drilling from going ahead?
Return to Newcastle via Stockton Bridge, over not under it.

Remember summer?

Some say not to live to the West of your workplace because getting to and from work will be right into the glare of the sun. More difficult to do considering our long eastern coast settlements.
Today's the shortest day, sunny, chilly and breezy. Sunny but everything has tilted away from the sun and the shadows are long and tall trees are likely to cast some shade onto the solar panels.
For old fashioned savings consider your power schedule on Smart meters with the supplier or biller TRUenergy trading as EnergyAustralia.

PEAK rates 2pm - 8pm on working days: 40.26 cents /kWh.
SHOULDER rates morning and evening: 7am - 2pm and 8pm - 10pm on Mon - Fri: 14.96 cents.  Also 7am - 10pm on weekends and public holidays also 14.96 cents.
OFF PEAK rates overnights 10pm - 7am: 8.80 cents.  rates include GSTax

Old fotos of coal mining.  Heard that little old coal carriages were stopped by throwing a length of wood at the wheels somehow.

Senator Bob Brown, foremost advocate for our good survival, is retiring from the Greens.  He is expert at spelling out the most significant issues of our time.
Sustainability, in its widest sense, was gaining traction.  Hope has turned to disbelief.  Who was to know that this nation would become totally committed to plundering the counryside and seaside on the pretex that any darn fool thing is excusable because the world needs energy supplies NOW.  And jobs - the ultimate test.  And a fast buck.

Where is the revolution to alternative energy?  Where is protection of the environment and of biodiversity?  Protection of food growing areas and the natural scenic appearance of the landscape? Protection from pathogenic coal dust and pollution?  Murray Darling conservation that hurts vested interests?

We have even invited other nations to colonise and mine and up the ante.  To share our resources would be gratifying but it is just feeding Asia's etc addiction to fossile fuel.
At the same time as our fuel exports make sure that other places are polluted and produce carbon emissions, (never at a rate as high as our own), at home we rightly graple with a carbon tax and emissions trading.  And if it does lead us to more expensive electricity and fuel, subsidies from the government apart, well, that's what sustainability takes.  Less consumption is the name of the game.
Our lifestyle is over the odds and it takes a competent member of the Greens to keep calling us to account.

Ready for Earth Hour  March 26 ?

Newcastle Show 2011

Tall lilies and tall where with all (or wear with all?).

These storage tanks are getting a big facelift. Petroleum products are held there as is usual.
It's not art unfortunately. They are wrapped, of course, to contain any pollution created by the work.

A context or good composition or somesuch is part of a good photo. One can 'do battle' with the traffic and one way streets and 'no parking zones' so as to reach some unlikely subject for a photo and just go for it and a scene becomes digitalized just in a matter of fact way at first sight and history (or herstory) is recorded. I'm afraid that's it.

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.

In this district the properties, farmhouses and hobby farms are deserted and have been acquired by the coal mining industry.
The locality, Anvil Hill, will be mined and renamed Mangoola by the Xstrata company. I imagine much of the area, far and wide, is subject to exploration and mining leases.



Below Q&A: Bagaimana isinya?
(Bahasa Indonesia)

Trivia. A new brand of pasta has arrived from Napoli. Some Newcastle supermarts cater more for Italians if that has anything to do with it.

The provincial scene on the label show a maiden with wheat and a sickle and is it the Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius on the horizon? The maiden is from Gragnano, a commune (municipality) near Naples.
Australian pasta is a good product and is exported far and wide, including Italy, but will certainly have to come up with more imaginative packaging to outdo this.
News of the wonder food, pasta, is on these sites: http://www.san-remo.com.au and http://www.ilovepasta.org/
It is the food of Olympic Champions.

This traditional home made dry pasta says:
Our tradition bronze-extruded pasta is made using the finest quality... wheat...in Gregnano, the home of pasta.
It came in the form of Herculaneum rings, shorter and much wider than Penne with good flavour while the most appropriate recipe is unknown as to sauce or otherwise as the pasta is rather dominant but a drop of red is important. The water pipes of yesterday's post were a reminder!
The dry pieces were just right for a toddler to thread and paint and make a necklace and, even, believe it or not, eat, when cooked - refering to a pasta dish.

Light-emitting diode or LED lights.
These small glowlights use only a tiny amount of power.
Bulbs are newer items and are for sale in this display.
LEDs first came on the scene to illuminate readouts and dials or to show that an appliance was on. Diodes abound in electronics and these products exploit their lighting properties and white light has been an advancement.
Technical data exists about developments but, for example, the lights are of some use for interior lighting for a camper van that is dependent on solar or a genny when travelling away on remote adventures. LEDs are used in traffic lights.
Saw the light at Cetnaj P/L Mayfield West.

Glass ceiling at an angle. Ways to keep out the heat and cold seen at CSIRO Mayfield West.

Sustainable energy tower 'resting' after sunset. Sunlight is focused and leads to a reaction between natural gas and water for a stronger gas of increased energy. Stored solar energy. A CSIRO project.

Solar collectors forming a wall at CSIRO Research, Mayfield West.The photo is deceptive, the collectors are high up and rather extensive.
I have visited cities in blogs, seen Octoberfests and even lions in lederhosen but my connection was too slack to leave visiting cards.

MORE RUBBISH FROM NEWCASTLE

Administration building and space for education and talking and consulting as well as the weighbridge at Summerhill Tip, further to yesterday's post.
As a nation we are one of the top producers of garbage in the world according to the city council but efforts are made to reduce the waste going to landfill.
As elsewhere, recovery and reuse extends to such as garden, tree and timber items; to construction and demolition wastes, to asphalt, concrete and shredded tyres. For instance, hugh amounts of compost and mulch products are processed from the green waste.
The remainder goes to landfill on site which is contained in a lining system but still, some argue that landfill will nevertheless become a problem. Landfill produces gases and a methane extraction system has been installed to use the gas for the generation of electricity in the future while in the meantime it is converted to 'less harmful' CO2. Organic household waste may in turn be extracted in the future to further reduce landfill.

SUMMERHILL WASTE MANAGEMENT CENTRE

Pre and post-Christmas clean-up. Select the correct drop-off according to the class of goods, then reverse the trailer into the 'bay', fun for those of us who cannot reverse a trailer very well, then, 'get into it' and unload the rubbish over the side into the bins below.

Reaching for the energy

Newcastles only big wind turbine seems to be reaching up to the sky for the breezes to keep the city running during the approaching night! Is this the future of energy, 'free' renewable and non polluting. For a city which has been based on technology we are slow to move on from the old coal based power structure. People want their power but what is the cost? Later generations will have to put up with the results of our excessive use and pollution it causes.