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.

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.

Those of you who read yesterday's Australian Financial Review would have read the article in which Australia's four local car manufacturers, Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi and Toyota were bleating that they could not possibly begin pursuing green vehicle initiatives without substantial Australian Government handouts (anywhere from $500million to $2 billion, depending on who you speak to).

It's an especially interesting comment from Toyota who's parent company is already producing the Prius hybrid car in the US and China and is struggling to supply demand for the Prius here.

It would be easy now to slide into cynicism and despair over the Australian manufacturers reliance on government handouts and import tarifs to survive, while pondering their lack of ability to compete and innovate in the global economy.

The closest any of these four companies have come to innovation is Holden's two-door Commodore coupe Monaro. It's a nice car but not particularly innovative.

In this environment, it was genuinely heartening to read in the latest ReNew Magazine that there is a manufacturer in Australia building a mass-produced electric vehicle.

Armidale (NSW) based engineering firm Energetique have commenced the Energetique EV project. With funding sourced from Switzerland, USA, China, Korea, Germany, UK, Italy, Australia and Norway they are expecting the first prototype to roll off the shop floor early this year.

The first production run is expected to be about 200,000 two-door commuters with a later run of both a four door commuter and a commercial vehicle.

For the gear-heads, the Energtique EV is expected to have a range of 300km per charge, a top speed of 130km/h, will do 0-100 in about 10 seconds and weigh under 1200kg. ie: it will be a great commuter vehicle.

The Energtique EV will also feature a battery pack of liquid cooled lithium ion, regenerative breaking and a synchronous induction motor.

It's great to see Australians innovating where the larger competitors have failed to deliver. Perhaps Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi and Toyota could learn some lessons here.

I'm looking forward to seeing these on the road in the not too distant future :)