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Hydrogen Fuel Dream Will
Soon Be A Reality, Australian Scientists Predict
Australian scientists predict that a revolutionary
new way to harness the power of the sun to extract
clean and almost unlimited energy supplies from water
will be a reality within seven years.
Using special titanium oxide ceramics that harvest
sunlight and split water to produce hydrogen fuel,
researchers say it will then be a simple engineering
exercise to make an energy-harvesting device with no
moving parts and emitting no greenhouse gases or pollutants.
It would be the cheapest, cleanest and most abundant
energy source ever developed: the main by-products
would be oxygen and water.
"This is potentially huge, with a market the
size of all the existing markets for coal, oil and
gas combined," says Professor Janusz Nowotny,
who along with Professor Chris Sorrell is leading a
solar hydrogen research project at the University of
New South Wales (UNSW) Centre for Materials and Energy
Conversion.
Sorrell says Australia is ideally placed to take advantage
of the enormous potential of this new technology: "We
have abundant sunlight, huge reserves of titanium and
we're close to the burgeoning energy markets of the
Asia-Pacific region. But this technology could be used
anywhere in the world. It's been the dream of many
people for a long time to develop it and it's exciting
to know that it is now within such close reach."
Defence firm seeks to exclude workers based on nationality
A Perth-based defence contractor has advised the Equal
Opportunities Commission it wants special approval
to exclude workers of certain nationalities.
Australian Defence Industries (ADI) has applied for
an exemption from the state's Equal Opportunities Act
in an effort to win multi-billion dollar American defence
contracts.
The contracts require an extension of US law where
people of certain nationalities cannot be employed
on specific defence projects.
The state's Equal Opportunities Commissioner Yvonne
Henderson says she will oppose the application.
She says if the application is successful up to 40
per cent of the company's workforce would have to be
dismissed or transferred.
“This is an extraordinarily high figure,” says
Henderson. “It suggests that the number of countries
which they would be seeking to remove people from employment
on their projects is quite substantial."
ADI has already been granted an exemption in Victoria
and is seeking exemptions in other states.
Jock Ferguson from the Australian Manufacturing Workers
Union says he is appalled by the application.
"We do things in different ways, we have got
different laws,” says Ferguson. “Any company
that wants to come and work here should abide by the
Australian laws, and not take applications to the Equal
Opportunities Commission to diminish what we have created
in our multicultural society in Australia."
$800 toolkit lure for apprentices
New apprentices will be given a "toolkit" worth
up to $800 under a Coalition plan to boost the take-up
of trades in industries facing critical workforce shortages.
The package, called "Reskilling Australia",
is expected to benefit 34,000 apprentices over the
three years from next July 1.
The main industries to benefit will be the automotive,
construction, metals, carpentry, hairdressing and catering
industries. These have been identified by the Department
of Employment as the industries facing the worst skills
shortages.
The $800 will pay for the tools needed in these trades
- such as spanners and wrenches for automotive apprentices
- as well as safety and protective gear.
The Government will also set up an institute for trade
skills excellence at a cost of $18 million over three
years.
The institute would advocate best practice in trade
skills, working with groups such as the Business Council
of Australia and chambers of commerce.
Both employers and unions have raised concerns about
the skills shortage. A recent Australian Industry Group
report found one in two manufacturing companies had
difficulty finding skilled labour, while the ACTU warned
of a national shortage of 250,000 traditional trades
apprentices over the next decade, leading to $9 billion
in lost output in that decade.
Is your child a potterer, sportie or screenie?
Research from the University of South Australia has
identified several different "types" of
Australian children, based on their involvement in
physical activity.
The categories include sporties, screenies, potterers,
players and socialisers.
The research is the first of its kind to classify Australian
children according to the type of activity that suits
them best.
Dr Tim Olds, from the University of South Australia,
says this information can help parents plan activities
their children will enjoy and ensure they remain physically
active.
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