Energy Crisis forum for Newcastle today

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Resolving Australia's energy crisis, could start close to home in Newcastle, with a forum today to discuss the future of gas energy production in the region.

The forum will be held at Fort Scratchley hosted by the Newcastle branch of the Australian Institute of Energy.

Weston Energy CEO Garbis Simonian and Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon will also participate, championing the idea of gas playing a major role in the Hunter's economy into the future, as the coal industry fades out.

Image theaustralian.com.au

"Our coal fired generators are reaching the end of their commercial life and we need to plan for what the period after that looks like. We need a transition to renewable's and I think gas is the answer and we need to have a debate about getting more gas out of the ground," said Joel Fitzgibbon.

The forum will be just the start of stimulating debate about the Hunter's own energy crisis, with many more discussions planned for the future.

"Well I hope to have rolling discussions about these issues over the course of the next six months. We need to have these conversations because if we don't find some answers then our lights are going to be turning off, we won't have heating for our homes and our manufacturing plants will be closing down. That's a real crisis," said Joel Fitzgibbon.

Other guest speakers today include Jim Snow, Executive Director of Oakley Greenwood and Adjunct Professor UQ, as well as Alister Alford, formerly Acting general Manager of Marketing for Delta Electricity.

The future of energy developed in Newcastle

BY TYLER FARDELL

An environmentally friendly, renewable energy on demand system developed in partnership by the University of Newcastle and Infratech Industries, is being labelled as a solution to Australia's energy crisis.

The CLES (Chemical Looping Energy on Demand System) will put the production, distribution and management of power, oxygen and hydrogen into the hands of the consumer.

The CLES us about the size of a fridge, and uses naturally occurring gas to create oxygen, hydrogen and heat.

By using only natural gas, the CLES releases only a third of the Greenhouse Gas emissions of fossil fuels compared with other renewable energy sources.

Turbines in the machine are then powered by the heat to generate electricity, with the overall efficiency of the process above 90 percent.

Director of the research centre for Frontier Energy Technologies and Utilisation at the University of Newcastle, Professor Behdad Moghtaderi says this is game changing, and it should be available to consumers either late this year or early next.