GO SOLAR, SAYS UNI ECO EXPERT

By Shoba Rao, The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia), March 4, 2005

Soaring crude oil prices and an over-reliance on coal-based fuel could
leave the Hunter region with limited energy resources by 2020, it was
claimed yesterday.

The region's councils are now being encouraged to adopt solar-powered
energy, in the form of solar towers, to generate long-lasting fuel and
electricity.

The call for increased reliance on solar energy in the Hunter comes as
Wentworth Shire Council committed itself last year to the building of a
solar tower at Mildura to rival the Snowy Mountain scheme.

At a cost of up to $700 million, the tower in Mildura is being built in
partnership with Japan-based firm EnviroMission over the next three years.

Like an environment-friendly chimney, one tower is about 1km high and
contains a large, circular greenhouse, with a hollow tower in the centre.

The sun warms the air in the greenhouse, which expands and rises.

As the air rises, it passes through a cluster of turbines inside the
tower, which help generate electricity. As heat is stored in water tanks
inside the greenhouse, the turbines are able to provide a constant source
of energy.

Glenn Albrecht, Newcastle University's senior environmental studies
lecturer, said a solar tower was a good source of green energy that could
provide up to 200,000 homes with electricity across the Hunter.

Dr Albrecht also said it would be possible to look at solar power as the
sole provider of energy for the Hunter's transport system.

"If we could get this cleaner form of fuel to run a whole train network,
it would be of enormous benefit to the environment and daily transport
users," he said.

Dr Albrecht's calls for a solar tower in the Hunter come after premium
petrol shortages in NSW and cuts in global oil production, which recently
forced crude oil prices to rise to US$55 a barrel -- the highest since
November.

"The region invests so much money and time in building and maintaining
coal-powered stations to use fuel that is going to run out whether we want
to accept it or not," said Dr Albrecht.

"Every day, we also rely on motor vehicles that use petroleum, which we
are already seeing shortages of at petrol stations."

Dr Albrecht said a solar tower would be an assured way of getting the
Hunter out of the carbon fuel-based economy that was dying out.