Two breaking stories today revealing the location by an energy company of not only two geothermal energy sites that could be online within a couple years but also that these sources are already on the national energy grid.

Not only does this reduce the infrustructure costs to getting this energy online, it greatly speeds up the go-live time and allows the energy to be provided at a cost that is only marginally more expensive than coal at it's current price.

I would expect this energy would be cheaper than coal, once the coal price spikes upward when a national carbon trading scheme is introduced in the next few years. To envisage this energy source powering up to 15% of South Australia's energy needs 6 years from now is enough to give you that warm, special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts.

Maybe below the cockles. Maybe in the sub cockle area. Maybe in the liver, maybe in the kidneys, maybe even in the colon, we dont know[1]. It's a good feeling nonetheless :)

Excerpts from the stories are below and title can be clicked on to go to the full stoires:

Two sites earmarked for geothermal plans

Torrens Energy says early estimates of stored heat show significant potential for Australia's first commercial geothermal energy source.
...
"We accept the criticism that there are no commercial production plants in Australia, but believe that perhaps within one to two years there will be commercial plants in operation," he said.

Hot rocks sites found on national power grid - ABC Online

Six sites with geothermal power potential have been located near the national power grid in northern South Australia.
...
Torrens Energy chief executive, Chris Matthews, says that, within six years, the Parachilna hot rocks could supply between 5 and 15 per cent of South Australia's base load power, at a price competitive with coal power stations.

1 - Shamelessly lifted from Denis Leary.

The Federal Government says the first trial power plant should be completed in South Australia by the end of the year, and geothermal power should be available on the power grid within five years.

Full Story: - Hot rocks future heating up - ABC

...and that flip Brendan Nelson wants us to go down the poisonous nuclear energy path. Who's whispering in his ear? I'll take the 5 years for a very clean, renewable energy source such as geothermal power over the 15-20 year wait (the Howard government's own estimate) for a nuclear power station. I won't even mention that we've still found no solution to deal with nuclear waste, which leaves a deadly legacy for between 10,000 and 1,000,000 years (estimates vary widely) of future generations.

Brendan Nelson is clearly on planet whacko. Sadly he's got lots of company.

The lake dam is full! Except we forgot our camera on the last trip.

The shed we're planning is starting to take shape, in our minds at least and we've staked out our preferred site and done some preliminary sketches, which have been roughed out on napkins, of course ;)

Paddock plans are advancing and the first shovel loads of earth have been turned as the earthship style animal shelters have had their location sorted. Some construction photos will be up after the next trip, along with more detail on how we went about it.

This trip was mostly about planning, finishing fencing and as usual, planting. We planted the  following seedlings at our front gate /access road:

x2 Royal Grevillea (Grevillea victoriae)
x2 Silky Grevillea (Grevillea sericea)
x2 Oval Leaf Grevillea (Grevillea miqueliana)
x2 White Wings Grevillea (Grevillea 'White Wings')
x2 Grevillea Canterbury Gold (Grevillea 'Canterbury Gold')
x2 Grevillea Poorinda Peter (Grevillea 'Poorinda Peter')

We also planted our first apple tree in a prominent location near the lake dam:

x1 Apple Tree (Double grafted Red Delicous & Granny Smith)

Kristina has converted the bus into a nursery, so it looks like a greenhouse will soon be on my construction list. Here's what Kristina has got growing so far in her providence nursery:

x25 Cheesewoods
x25 Golden Rosemary

On this trip Kristina planted the following additional seeds:

x25 Mountain Pepper (Tasmannia Lanceolata)
x25 Native Currant
x50 Native Thyme
x50 Button Grass

When you add the below non-providence seeds:

x25 Fuscia Gum

We're going to run out of space in the bus pretty soon!

I've just come across the exciting Sydney City Farm project who are trying to create a green sanctuary to showcase an eco-friendly future in the heart of Sydney at Callan Park in Iron Cove, Rozelle.

The Sydney City Farm vision is for a place where we can come together to grow organic food, learn about the latest in water-saving techniques, climate-friendly renewable technologies.

They hope to achieve this by creating a vibrant centre of learning and community participation through the creation and management of an urban permaculture garden, an organic farm and environmental management showcase, modelled on city farm projects in New York, London and Melbourne.

It is envisaged that the Sydney City Farm will become a key centre for connecting the community and generating the shared accomplishments which build long term neighbourliness and community cohesion. It will be a focal point for strong community involvement and education in sustainable living practices as well as developing cultural, creative and recreational activities and events.

They are holding a public meeting this weekend and I encourage anyone with an interest in this to attend to hear about this visionary plan and show your support:

When: Saturday 12 July - 12pm - 1pm
Where: Sydney College of the Arts lecture theatre, Callan Park, Rozelle.
Google Maps: Click Here

I've attached a copy of the plan below. Click here or on the image to see the full size copy.

Last night I became a committee member of the Alternative Technology Association's local branch: Sydney Central.

The ATA have been doing brilliant work with renewable energy for over 25 years and have amassed a great body of knowledge on alternative technology, particularly renewable energy.

I've been gorging myself on their magazines, books, CD's and large back catalogue for sometime now and have been fairly impressed by what I've learnt. I hope that as a committee member of the Sydney Central branch I can make a positive contribution over the next twelve months.

Fencing, lots of it. Not with an epee but with poles, star pickets, pole drivers, wallaby wire and the neighbours big blue tractor. Best part of a kilometre so far. That's what we've been doing lately and we've still got a fair bit to go yet until this section is finished.

As the photo gives away, it's been a little wet even though rainfall has so far been below average for June.

We've bought three alpacas, Penelope, Creampuff and Callisto. Both Creampuff and Callisto are pregnant so I guess that makes five. Penelope will hopefully be mated in late spring / early summer.

Here's a couple of snaps of the fencing:

We've also been busy planting with another dozen plants going in along the creek line, continuing the same two varieties we've already been planting:

- 6 Swamp Gums (Eucalyptus ovata)
- 6 Blackwoods (Acacia melanoxylon)

Taking the total of each to twelve. The wallabies have been enjoying our planting of un-intentional free feed so we've taken some of the tyres we were going to use as walls of the sheep shelter, some stakes and a little chicken wire to keep them at bay. Let's see how this goes
:)

There was a little excitement in the house tonight. We heard the dog, Little, scuffling with something in the boy's bedroom and this is what we found:

After a brief chat with Sydney Wildlife we worked out that he/she was fine and we set them free in the Lilli Pilli tree outside.

What it found attractive in the boy's room is anyones guess :)

There's a crater where one of our paddocks used to be. At least it looks like a crater but it is actually a dam (or small lake?) that we built at the bottom of the water course of two springs that flow from the hillside. It's filling up steadily and soon that lump in the middle will hopefully be the island we envisaged it to be. It's also a whole lot bigger than it appears (you could put a house in there):

Aside from having huge craters made, we've been busy planting. We're re-vegetating the creek line with a variety of shrubs and trees. At this stage we're only planting the trees and we've planted:

- 6 Swamp Gums (Eucalyptus ovata) which grow to about 25M high
- 6 Blackwoods (Acacia melanoxylon) which grow to about 12M high

Although I don't trust those height estimates as the blackwoods already on site are some of the largest trees I've ever seen and easily exceed 12M and Wikipedia has them at up to 45M.

The two tree types are going to form a two layered screen along the creek line, with the Swamp Gums being closest to the creek, in the soil that is the wettest for the longest part of the year and the Blackwoods being the next line.

The Blackwoods were chosen because they are an impressive tree, water tolerant and will make a good screen. The Swamp Gums because they are fast growing, love getting their feet wet and native wildlife (particularly possums) love their leaves.

Here's a recent photo of us at the farm.

I could be biased, seeing one of my favourite bands, Weddings, Parties, Anything at one of my favourite venues, The Gaelic Club in Surry Hills but it was without a doubt, the best show ever.

I mean *ever*.

I've never seen a show like the one they put on. Such great songs in the hands of such great musicians. Thank you Weddoes for going around one last time :)

"Their like we'll never see, again."

Just a short video giving a quick virtual tour of the farm with some panorama shots, the bus, composting loo (closed!) and Kristina doing her "sheep whisperer" thing :)