The Southern Cross Climate Coalition, which organised the forum, believes Australia could become a leader in six key industries within the growing global $6 trillion green products and technology market.

These include renewable energy (such as wind and solar), energy efficiency, production of bio-materials (including plastic from plant starch), green buildings with less energy and water use, sustainable water systems and waste and recycling.

But a strengthened Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and more policies on energy efficiency and developing clean energy would be essential for these industries to prosper, the coalition says.

The coalition is made up of the Climate Institute, Australian Council of Social Service, Australian Council of Trade Unions, WWF and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

he groups will hold a climate change and jobs forum in South Brisbane that they hope will pressure politicians and businesses to take action on climate change.

“The vote on an effective emissions trading scheme in the federal parliament in coming weeks will be crucial if Australia is to unlock billions of investment dollars needed to drive the transformation to a low-carbon economy and create hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said.

“It’s time for the dinosaurs in politics and business to evolve and stop blocking the industries and jobs which will cut the greenhouse gases harming our environment.”

Source: AAP

The Department of Health will add fluoride to the water supply from November 16.

Councillor Verlin says she has listened to both sides of the fluoride debate and personally believes that adding fluoride to Ballarat’s water supply is a good idea.

“I make my comments having heard both sides of the debate, I don’t make them lightly and with two grandchildren growing up in this area, I genuinely believe that small children in particular will benefit from the fluoridation of our water,” she said

The facility will cater for new employees and offer them accommodation for three months.

Xstrata’s Steve de Kruijff says there are 93-bedroom duplex units as part of the complex, which is an environmentally-friendly design.

“We have got a lot of innovation in the building such as breezeways where you don’t need your air conditioning all the time,” he said.

“So the house is designed to take the natural breezes and we will use all our grey water so all the water that is generated by the houses is recirculated through into the gardens.”

The jobless figure rose to its highest level since 2003 on Thirsday, but QRC chief executive Michael Roche says the resources sector is not to blame.

“The mining industry is going from strength to strength, despite the global financial crisis,” he said.

“The latest figures showing an industry-by-industry breakdown show that mining employment in Queensland is up 20 per cent over the last 12 months.

“So we’ll need to look somewhere else to understand what’s happening in the Queensland economy.”

Mr Roche said he had hope that the mining industry’s employment levels would remain steady.

“I think the mining sector’s employment will hold its own,” he said.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that this renewed demand out of China will hold, and we’re starting to see some positive signs from our traditional markets such as Japan.”

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) says the business community holds the key to employment.

CCIQ president Beatrice Booth says the State Government has to do more to encourage businesses to employ people in Queensland, saying businesses are currently overtaxed and over-regulated.

“This spectacular gemstone was recovered on Thursday 24 September and is currently with experts for analysis,” said a statement released by the London-listed company which operates mainly in Africa.

Initial examinations of the diamond which weighs just over 100 grams, have shown it to be of exceptional colour and clarity.

The diamond is undergoing colour grading, but is believed to be a rare Type II diamond, with very low traces of nitrogen - considered an impurity - making them among the most transparent and colourless of the gems.

“The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond… we now eagerly await the findings of the expert analysis,” said Johan Dippenaar, Petra’s chief executive.

The precious stone was found alongside three other special white gems of similar colour and clarity, a large diamond of 168.00 carats and two other stones of 58.50 and 53.30 carats.

The mine which was previously owned by diamond mining giant De Beers, is renowned for the discovery of the famed Cullinan Diamond in 1905, which is part of the British crown jewels and weighed 3106 carats.

In May 2008, the mine produced a sparkling 101.27 carat diamond, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.

The Cullinan Diamond Mine is the third richest diamond producing mine in South Africa

But its creators will first have to get it out of the garage.

For five months, 35 of the University of Sydney’s brightest first-year engineering students have been labouring in a workshop, solving a maze of complex technical problems.

Scheduled to be unveiled this evening at the university’s York Theatre, their car has no mechanical brakes, no gear box, no axles and no differential.

Instead, each wheel will be powered by its own electric motor controlled by a central computer. By getting rid of heavy mechanical parts, one student, Jonathan Yeow, said yesterday ”you can have a lighter car, you can drive it faster, with less power”. The Mango is so light, Mr Yeow observed, ”two people can pick it up”.

But yesterday, as the students worked on the car, they discovered a last-minute snag.

Their ManGo ”concept car” is 155 centimetres wide, about five centimetres wider than the workshop’s doorway. ”Size had never been a major concern,” mumbled one student.

”It’s slightly embarrassing,” admitted Michael Roberts, their engineering professor, who promised he would ”take the bloody doors down” to get the ManGo to its launch on time.

Associate Professor Roberts said the glitch merely added ”a touch of humanity” to what his ”really talented students” had achieved. When assigned to create a lightweight all-electric car 20 weeks ago ”they were really thrown in the deep end”.

Associate Professor Roberts observed that many students now came to university with excellent computer skills, but had often missed the hands-on experiences of previous generations. ”We used to make billycarts,” he recalled.

While his students had overlooked the size of the workshop doors, they had ”what Leonardo had when he was designing flying machines, and what Brunel had when he was putting ships out to sea … balls”.

”They have shown guts and determination and courage. Only on top of that comes the science.” The ManGo, which has a 48-volt lithium battery to power the motors, has a 240-volt adaptor. To recharge the battery, said Mr Yeow, ”you just plug it in”. The car also boasts a ”regenerative braking system” that allows it to top up its battery as it drives. ”In normal frictional breaking” employed by conventional cars, said Mr Yeow, ”energy is wasted as heat”.

But when braking in the ManGo, ”you can capture that energy and dump it back, as electricity, in the battery”.

The computer system not only steers the wheels, ”it essentially tells the car how fast it is going and how well the tyres are gripping. I think it has a lot of promise,” said Mr Yeow.

While the ManGo will be unveiled today, the students say they need another $10,000 to have it ready for a full demonstration of its driving efficiency.

SOURCE: SMH
Article written by: RICHARD MACEY

LNG announced in February it had signed a heads of agreement with its biggest shareholder, Norwegian company Golar LNG, to supply all of its first production train, which has a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes a year. BusinessDay believes that talks between Golar LNG and the end buyer are ending and a deal could be announced this week.

LNG’s Fisherman’s Landing project will be the first of five proposals to export LNG from Gladstone. LNG plans to build a 1.3 million tonnes-a-year LNG plant for export in 2012, with early work starting next month.

Arrow Energy will supply the project’s coal-seam methane from its reserves and has an option for a second LNG train.

Meanwhile, LNG has announced it has made a start to front-end engineering design for the second 1.5 million tonnes-a-year LNG train.

LNG managing director Maurice Brand said the second train would be based on the design of the first but would be completed in ”a much shorter time and at minimal cost”.

Gindalbie is developing the Karara project, east of Geraldton, in a joint venture with Chinese steel producer Ansteel.

It is the final step in the State Government approvals process.

The project will now go to the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, for Commonwealth approval.

The Premier, Colin Barnett, says it is a significant step towards major development in the mid-west iron ore region.

“It will export through the proposed Oakajee port, so it is important in that sense,” he said.

“Gindalbie itself is a big project and I think something like 1,800 jobs during construction will be involved.”