Jan. 1, 2001 Australian households and industries could produce
their own clean, green electricity, or draw it from a nearby
source, under a new concept for electricity distribution in
Australia. CSIRO's Energy Sector plans to establish a Centre for
Distributed Energy and Power that will focus on research and
development and marketing to support smaller, localised energy
systems - systems that could slash Australia's greenhouse gas
emissions by more than half. The systems, incorporating fuel
cells, gas micro-turbines and renewable energy technologies,
could range from multi-megawatt capacity that serve major
industrial complexes down to the 10 kW capacity for individual
households. "This form of energy supply is strengthening
worldwide and is now impacting on Australia," says Dr John
Wright, Chief of CSIRO Energy Technology. "Gas and solar hot
water heaters are an accepted part of our homes. Why not a small
gas powered fuel cell or micro-turbine that could cleanly and
silently provide a family's entire electr