China

Rat disguised as lamb meat sold in china

May 6, 2013 by Reporter Leave a Comment

In a new meat scandal after the UK horse meat scandal china has been rocked with a incident where rat meat has been used instead of lamb.

According to Indian newspaper NDTV that has reported on this incident

A criminal ring in china was accused of taking meat from rats and foxes and selling it as lamb in china the country’s latest food safety scandal.

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63 people were supposedly involved in this food scandal in which they ran an operation in Shanghai and the coastal city of Wuxi that bought fox, mink, rat and other meat that had not been tested for quality and safety, processed it with additives like gelatin and passed it off as lamb.

Guess whih is fake lamb?

_{Ref: http://www.tealeafnation.com/ via weibo}

The top one is fake

This fake meat scandal in china has embarrassed the Chinese government once again. China has food scandals before with – milk contaminated with an industrial chemical to the use of industrial dyes in eggs and other similar scandals.

After a baby food scandal rocked the country , Adulterating baby food so that it severely lacks nutrition is also punishable as a crime under the guidelines. Negligent government food inspectors are also targeted for criminal punishment. Many people have resorted to buying baby products from the internet and overseas

Can solar energy Solve Australia’s Electricity needs

June 14, 2012 by Reporter Leave a Comment

Every hour of every day the amazingly the sun warms the earth with enough energy to meet world demand for a whole year. And this constant power source available to us – the sun. Solar energy now is getting more popular with governments due to scarcity and price of electricity generation in different countries.

Ancient Greeks and Romans long time ago tried to benefit from the sun by covering south facing building openings with glass or mica to hold in the heat of the winter sun.

Photo credit : wikipedia

Around 500 companies—the largest polluters in our economy—will be required to purchase a permit for every tonne of pollution they produce.

Through Clean Energy Future, the Australian Government encourages businesses to reduce their carbon footprint through a carbon tax.

Legal obligations for businesses

A small number of companies will have direct legal obligations, but for most businesses the most significant change will be the introduction of a carbon price through Clean Energy Future

The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) System developed by the government will measure and monitor corporate greenhouse gas emissions, energy production and energy consumption.

Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy

Australian Solar Government Schemes

SOLAR CREDITS SCHEME

Solar Credits is a mechanism within the RET scheme that provides additional support to households, businesses and community groups that install small-scale solar PV, wind and hydro electricity systems by multiplying the number of RECs able to be created for eligible installations.

Solar Credits apply to the first 1.5 kilowatts (kW) of capacity installed; generation from capacity above 1.5 kW will still be eligible for the standard 1:1 rate of RECs creation.

For more information view the Solar Credits for small generation units fact sheet.

NEW SOUTH WALES

SOLAR BONUS SCHEME

NSW has effectively scrapped the Solar Bonus Scheme, as of 27th October 2010.

For more information, visit:

http://www.dtiris.nsw.gov.au/energy/

QUEENSLAND

SOLAR BONUS SCHEME

Customers participating in the Scheme will be paid 44 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for surplus electricity fed into the grid—more than double the current general domestic use tariff of 18.84c/kWh (inc GST as at 1 July 2009).

For more information, visit:

http://www.cleanenergy.qld.gov.au/solar_scheme.cfm

SOUTH AUSTRALIA Govt solar schemes

SOLAR FEED IN SCHEME

The Electricity (Feed-In Scheme-Solar Systems) Amendment Act 2008 was the first solar feed-in law in Australia and pays a premium guaranteed tariff of 44 cents per unit of electricity (kilowatt-hour, kWh), to households and small customers who feed solar electricity into the grid. For updated info on this scheme visit :
http://www.renewablessa.sa.gov.au/solar

VICTORIA Solar schemes

FEED IN TARIFFS

Victoria has two programs that allow consumers to be credited for renewable electricity they feed into the state’s grid – a premium feed-in tariff for solar and standard feed-in tariff for other small-scale renewable energy systems.

For more information, visit:
http://new.dpi.vic.gov.au/energy/energy-policy/greenhouse-challenge/feed-in-tariffs

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Goverment Solar schemes Grants

FEED IN TARIFFS

A residential net feed-in tariff scheme will commence in Western Australia from 1 August 2010. The tariff will be paid per unit of net electricity exported to the electricity grid from eligible systems.

For more information, visit:
http://www.energy.wa.gov.au/1/3652/64/feedin.pm

Solar Conference – Australia

One of the key events this year is the East Solar Expo & Conference to be presented by AuSES and international partner AUPVSEE at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre from the 21-22^nd of August. www.eastsolar2012.com

In the United States, Swedish-born John Ericsson led efforts to harness solar power. He designed the “parabolic trough collector,” a technology which functions more than a hundred years later on the same basic design.In 1953, Bell Laboratories (now AT&T labs) scientists Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller developed the first silicon solar cell capable of generating a measurable electric current.

The U.S.-China photovoltaic trade war is on despite china getting booming trade from US for its cheap solar technologies and exports.

Research papers in solar

SAFETY ISSUES, ARCING AND FUSING IN PV ARRAYS – Edward D Spooner, Nigel Wilmot (Senior Lecturer, The University of New South Wales, Australia)

COMPARISON OF SOLAR, NUCLEAR AND WIND OPTIONS FOR LARGE SCALE IMPLEMENTATION – David Mills (Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd)

Climate Change Action Fund

The Climate Change Action Fund (PDF 142 kB) will help local government prepare for a low pollution future

Assistance for eligible renewable energy power stations

Technorati Tags: BUSINESS,CLIMATE,FINANCE,INDUSTRY,NEWS,POLITICS,SCIENCE · TAGGED: CLIMATE CHANGE,CLIME,ENERGY,GREENHOUSE GAS,RENEWABLE ENERGY,SOLAR,SOLAR ENERGY

Iran gets tough, Australia gets tougher

January 24, 2012 by Reporter Leave a Comment

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has said Australia will follow the European Union in banning Iranian oil imports, after talks with his British counterpart in London. Iran has been reported in the press widely to have made a threat to block the strait of hormuz through which oil passes through to the rest of the world. Blocking this could result in a oil price hike affecting us immediately with increase in prices to fill and drive our cars.

China and India Oil imports with Iran

A leading state-run Chinese daily warned on Monday that Moscow and Beijing were seriously concerned over US attempts to go to war with Iran, IANS reported from Beijing.

The EU and the United States are pushing major importers of Iranian oil such as China, Japan, South Korea, India and Turkey to join the economic embargo. The US has been trying to pursue India and china to lessen their reliance on oil exports from Iran and putting pressure on Iran. China and INDIA have major oil imports agreements from Iran and India recently had payment routing problems to Iran for payments for oil that was routed through US based firms.

Some 65 percent of Iranian exports go to Asia. This step joins Russia and Iran’s announcement to begin trading in their own domestic currencies rather than use the US dollar – a reserve currency. China has rebuffed Western entreaties to reduce oil imports from Iran. When one Chinese oil firm, Zuhai Zhenrong, was recently placed on the financial sanctions list for trading with Iran, Beijing reacted furiously and conveyed "strong dissatisfaction and adamant opposition".

India has decided not to heed the West on abandoning Iranian oil imports, and it is proceeding to negotiate alternative payment processing mechanisms to continue trading with Tehran. Currently, India depends on the volatile Middle East for 70% of its oil and gas imports.

A senior member of Iran’s parliament said on Monday the Islamic Republic would close the entry point to the Gulf ( Strait of Hormuz ) if new sanctions block its oil exports. This news has been reported widely in online and News media with the affect of it creating a atmosphere of distrust towards Iran and creating a scenario of justifying an attack on Iran.

Any bid by Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil exports pass could result in a big oil price spike and ensuing chaos and distrust between countries.

What are these sanctions imposed by the EU ?

EU nations have formally adopted an unprecedented set of sanctions against Tehran – which include a bloc-wide embargo on Iranian oil

Iran’s blocking threat of the strait of Hormuz was a reaction to the European Union decision to impose sanctions on the Iranian central bank.But with no defined central power figure in Iran , it cannot be confirmed whether this threat is legitimate and backed by the powers that run Iran or as specified just a comment made by a member of the parliament which has been blown out of proportion , for the selfish propaganda needs of some western countries that are safeguarding their interests.

The EU embargo or sanctions on Iranian oil exports, amounts to the most significant package of sanctions yet agreed. They are also likely to impose a partial freeze on assets held by the Iranian Central Bank in the EU. The reasons for these sanctions is aid to arise from concern that Iran is developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a nuclear energy programme.

The strait of hormuz and its importance !

On an average day in 2011, about 14 tankers carrying 17 million barrels (2,700,000 m3) of crude oil passed out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of hormuz. This represents 35% of the world’s seaborne oil shipments, and 20% of oil traded worldwide. More than 85 percent of these crude oil exports went to Asian markets, with Japan, India, South Korea, and China representing the largest destination

The strait at its narrowest is 54 kilometres (34 mi) wide. It is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum-exporting Persian Gulf and is one of the world’s most strategically important passageways through which major part of the oil exports to the world passes through.

Tensions near strait of hormuz

US Miliatary carrier Abraham Lincoln’s entry into the Gulf came in defiance of an explicit warning from Iran. Earlier this month, General Ataollah Salehi, commander of the country’s armed forces, threatened to respond with "full force" if any US carrier ventured into the region’s waters. "We don’t have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once," he said.

USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered carrier capable of embarking 90 aircraft, passed through this channel and entered the Gulf without incident on Sunday. HMS Argyll, a Type 23 frigate from the Royal Navy, was one of the escort vessels making up the carrier battle-group. A guided missile cruiser and two destroyers from the US Navy completed the flotilla, along with one warship from the French navy.

On Sunday, six naval warships including Abraham Lincoln that is based in those waters from the US and the UK started to patrol the Straits of Hormuz in a show of strength. The straits could be the chokepoint for global oil flows if Iran decides to take the battle to oil-dependent countries and stops oil tankers here. This could send oil prices soaring and would be a killer blow to the sluggish global economy.

With this current situation looking like a economic war brought on by US , EU and IRAN, there is always the danger of it escalating with dangerous consequences. China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was has expressed concerns in this context of rising tensions over fresh Western sanctions against Iran and its consequences for energy security in Asia.

Links:

Europe buys oil from – http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1621003/Factbox–Whose-oil-does-the-EU-buy-

China

Rat disguised as lamb meat sold in china