SAY NO TO A NUCLEAR AUSTRALIA

Transportation Has Come a Long Way.

    

Ok, so this one is flashy! I could actually see myself driving in this... except it's probably a little expensive for my budget. $80 000 USD will get you one of these luxurious monsters. This one combines a small gasoline engine with lithium battery packs. Apparently, if it's charged properly, it would use only 1 tank of fuel per year. As for the performance, 0-60 mph within 6 seconds and a top speed of 125 mph... I might have expected a little better from a sports car, but hey, that's not too bad. Most of us wouldn't use all of that allowance anyway. But still... this is a car-lover talking...

Then I stumbled across this little beauty, the Tesla Electric Roadster.

Now, this one might be the one for me, I think. Jay Leno even has one! The lines of this vehicle are part Corvette, part Ferrari, part Porsche, and it looks great in black. An electric car that gives you 0 - 60mph in 4 seconds... that's more like it. It can travel up to 250 miles per charge and will set you back a mere $92 000 USD. No worries, I'll have two please, one for daytime use and one for night.

If you're looking for a larger vehicle, something like the Citroen C-Metisse might be the car for you.

This looks like something that should be in the next batman movie, it's 4.74 m long, 2 m wide, and only 1.24 m high. It's front wheels are powered by a diesel engine for highway driving, while the particulate trap reduces the resulting emissions. The rear wheels are powered by electric motors to give the car a zero emission mode for around town. It can do 0-62 mph in 6.2 seconds, has a top speed of 155 mph and its makers claim it will average 42 mpg. The point to remember though is that this is at present only a concept vehicle.



How about something a little more affordable? The ZAP Alias is set to be released at a cost of roughly $30 000.

An all-electric three-wheeler vehicle, this one will be able to travel about 150 miles on one charge and go from 0-60 mph in about 7 seconds. For a small vehicle around town, that's not a bad deal... and it wins in the style department too. As yet, it's just another concept car, but with a 2009 release date you can place your order for one now.

Can We Rely on Renewable Energy?

Links to Current Research

Sustainable Houses.

"A walk through a 100 year old terrace in the polluted inner city suburb of Chippendale. The house has been renovated and fitted to become self sufficient. Two adults and two children live there. It uses solar power which is connected to the grid so the house has no electricity bills, and actually feeds some power back into the grid. All their waste water and sewage is treated on site. The re-cycled water is used to flush the toilet and water the garden. They have a gutter filter which cleans and collects rainwater for drinking."

"Self-sufficiency in an arid climate. The first of several houses to for the Arrillhjere Corporation on aboriginal land, 30 killometres west of Alice Springs. It's a mud brick house, designed to be energy efficient and suitable an Aboriginal lifestyle in central Australia. The owner, Olive Veverbrants is keen to promote an environmental consciousness amongst her people. She is not yet on the phone, but is offering working holidays in return for expertise."

"An ordinary house in suburban Melbourne that's far from ordinary . It's self sufficient in water. The residents are not connected to the water main and they don't pay water rates. Toby Murcott walks around the house with owner Marie Q. The water source is local rainfall, collected on the roof and stored in a large tank under the house. The house has water efficient appliances, and the grey water from the kitchen and laundry is recycled onto the garden. All the stringent health standards required by local council, such as e. coli levels, have been met. Some council representatives were supportive, some were not. Marie Q & James Stronelle believe there's an urgent need to reduce water consumption in Australia. They're keen to spread the word on how to achieve a system like theirs in an urban situation."

"Lynne Malcolm visits a mud brick house situated on the Jarlanbah Estate, a rural residential subdivision, a few kilometres from Nimbin in sub-tropical Northern NSW. The house has a passive solar design, the walls are mud render applied over old corrugated iron and the centre of the house, which is mud brick gives the thermal mass. All the wood in the house is oiled with natural oils rather varnish or lacquer. There are Japanese style influences in the house's interior as Nigel lived in Japan for 12 years and his wife Yoko is Japanese. People are welcome to stay for bed and breakfast at Nigel and Yoko's house."

"An energy efficient village that would make Robin Hood proud. Brenda and Robert Vale designed and built their first autonomous house in the village of Southwell, in Nottinghamshire. The house was in an historic area and its appearance had to meet strict heritage guidelines. Despite this the house collects its own water and is energy and water autonomous. Techniques inclued very thick walls and the house is very well insulated - the roof insulation is half a metre thick shredded newspaper. The windows are triple glazed with special low emmission coating. Following the success of these houses the Vales were asked to write building specifications for autonomous houses, houses with low CO2 emmissions and houses without any space heating. The local council wants to build a 'zero CO2 village' village based near Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. The village was formerly a pit village. Now with the coal mines closed and local unemployment high, it's hoped demonstration Sherwood Energy Village will take the town forward."

"The City of Melbourne's six star green building CH2 opened in August 2006. An independent report evaluating the indoor environment quality and occupant productivity for the first year of full operations has now been released. The CSIRO report includes analysis from independent consultant Adrian Leaman of Building Use Studies in the UK, and indicates that productivity has improved by an impressive 10.9 per cent."