Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

Carnegie Corporation Ltd (ASX: CNM) is pleased to announce that three CETO II pumps have been installed at their Wave Energy Research Facility at Fremantle, Western Australia. The units are fully instrumented and connected to the on-shore facilities which include a demonstration pelton wheel hydro-electric turbine. This is the first time that multiple CETO II pumps have been installed and operated together in an array format. The units are performing within their design specification.

Carnegie’s Managing Director Dr Michael Ottaviano said:

“Having multiple units operating in a small array is a significant step forward in the development of the technology and may be the first time anywhere in the world that multiple wave energy units have been connected in an array. The instrumentation and recording of the array allows us to understand in detail the performance of each pump and the array as a whole.” Data will be collected and analysed from these units and along with the feasibility data from potential commercial project sites will be used to develop the final commercial scale CETO III design in 2009.

Not only are we one step closer to base load renewable energy but also to no emission desalination.

The world is running increasingly short of freshwater. It is estimated that nearly 2/3rds of the entire world will be water scarce by the year 2030. Because 97.25% of the world's water is in its oceans and most of the rest is in ice caps, only 0.01% of all the water in the world is accessible without seawater desalination. Currently though desalination is very energy intensive and is therefore a greenhouse gas emitter. A 500kL/day desalination plant operating on Australia's eastern seaboard emits the equivalent of nearly 1,000,000 tonnes of CO2 per year or an extra 220,000 cars on the road every year*.

CETO differs from other wave energy technologies under development by pumping water directly ashore under high pressure rather than generating electricity offshore and transmitting it back to shore via high voltage cables.

This makes CETO the most efficient and cost effective way to desalinate freshwater from wave energy.

This could be a fresh water solution for Australian cities that are running dry.

The 15 Planetary Emergencies identified by the World Federation of Scientists are:

• Water
• Soil
• Food
• Energy
• Pollution
• Limits of Development
• Climatic Changes
• Global Monitoring of the Planet
• Missile Proliferation and Defence
• Science and Technology for Developing Countries
• Organ Substitution
• Medicine and Biotechnology
• Cultural Pollution
• Defence Against Cosmic Objects
• Conversion of Military Resources

The World Federation of Scientists (WFS) was founded in Erice, Sicily, in 1973, by a group of eminent scientists led by Isidor Isaac Rabi and Antonino Zichichi. Since then, many other scientists have affiliated themselves with the Federation, among them T. D. Lee, Laura Fermi, Eugene Wigner, Paul Dirac and Piotr Kapitza.

The WFS is a free association, which has grown to include more than 10,000 scientists drawn from 110 countries. All members share the same aims and ideals and contribute voluntarily to uphold the Federation's Principles. The Federation promotes international collaboration in science and technology between scientists and researchers from all parts of the world - North, South, East and West. The Federation and its members strive towards an ideal of free exchange of information, where scientific discoveries and advances are no longer restricted to a select few. The aim is to share this knowledge among the people of all nations, so that everyone may experience the benefits of the progress of science.

If we are going to protect this planet from human activities that threaten to destroy it, we will need all our intelligence. At least 10,000 scientists have signed up to the World Federation of Scientist to monitor the effects we are having on the planet. Water is right up there with threats to the planet.

The reason "we" are encouraged to have babies is so that we don't import "them", because they are not us you see. Somehow the notion is that an Australian born baby is far superior to a baby born "over there". Bizarre isn't it?

But, Australia is not running out of water, we have sick rivers which is entirely different.

For an excellent report of the situation let me recommend Asa Whalquist's book Thirsty Country - you will be surprised at the amount of water we actually do have.

One example - the great artesian basin has over 430 years of supply at today's level of usage.

What we need to do with the rivers is stop the farming communities on their banks, those people who pour in the filth and pollutants, hormones and pesticides, and use those rivers for basic human needs while forcing lazy farmers to use crops that rely on rain in season and not the crops like wine grapes that are not much use to anyone really except those who like grog.

Instead we are having this bogus "debate" in Australia where it is easy to blame Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong for the 110 year history of stuffing up those rivers and we support and prop up the very people who have made the mess.