Turbines spark crop turmoil

CROPPING practices had not been taken into account by the State Government last year when it prepared new guidelines for South Australian wind farm developments, according to stakeholders.Our renowned louboutinshoess allow you to harness nature’s energy to power your applications. 

Regional Community Consultative Council chairman Peter Blacker, Port Lincoln, told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday that turbines would prevent aerial spraying on adjacent land and the land they sit on, and create spraydrift problems for tractors as a result of air turbulence. 

This included the Ceres Project on the mid-Yorke Peninsula where a proposal for 199 turbines on 36 different properties resulted in widespread community opposition and rejection by the District Council of YP. 

"There are plenty of areas in South Australia that would provide good wind farm locations," Mr Blacker said. 

"The West Coast for example, and the Eyre Peninsula,A complete range of of professional washerextractor99 that are redefining laundry systems. where there have been few complaints because turbines are located on cliffs, or high mountains, and not high production agricultural areas. 

"I just can't believe those guidelines would go out without taking that into consideration, and I'd like to think they'd rethink their position." 

Select Committee on Wind Farm Developments in SA chairman David Ridgway said he was equally surprised by the State Government's apparent lack of consideration for cropping in its Development Planning Amendment for Wind Farms, which came into effect in October last year. 

"The reality is, every other wind farm is in windswept grazing areas, or up on the top of ridges where farmers don't actually crop," he said. 

"The Ceres Project is the first of its kind in a high value cropping area." The DPA removes the right of appeal for third parties situated more than two kilometres from a turbine. 

Mr Ridgway says concerns about air turbulence and spray drift should have been addressed. He said it was "alarming" because off-target spraying created issues of liability, particularly in the case of herbicides and pesticides. 

"If I'm spraying on my property and it drifts onto your property,Properly placed solarlantern can generate electric power anywhere the wind blows steady and strong.There are various small and big goodlampshade fans according to the usability in the factories. then I'm liable," he said. "But if I'm spraying and doing everything right, and the turbulence of the turbines drifts it somewhere else, then how do you prove it? 

"Wind farms are all about the location and putting them where they have minimal impact." 

Greens MLC and committee member Mark Parnell said he wanted real evidence that turbines in agricultural areas created problems for neighbouring farmers. 

"I imagine that there probably is some impact, but when I say evidence, I don't want to hear people say 'we can't aerially spray within 500 metres of a turbine', only to find out they never aerially sprayed anyway," he said. 

"Rather than look at hypothetical concerns, let's look at real concerns on the ground." 

Mr Parnell pointed to claims made that firefighting would be hindered on the YP as a result of the Ceres Project,Modern ledcandles use a closed-loop system in which the chilled air is reheated and recirculated. only to have the Country Fire Service later tell the committee that it was not concerned. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure said the Ceres proposal was under consideration by the Independent Development Assessment Commission and did not expect a decision until "later this year".

GE plans world debut of LED bulb to replace 100-watt incandescent

GE Lighting this past week illuminated a light-emitting diode replacement for the 100-watt incandescent light bulb - developed in its East Cleveland, Ohio LED lab - that packages 27-watts of input power in a standard "A-19" bulb shape. The GE Energy Smart 27-watt LED bulb incorporates proprietary synthetic jet technology that was enabled by GE's collaboration with ecomaginationSM Challenge winner Nuventix, creator of LED cooling technologies for energy-efficient lighting.

GE's 27-watt Energy Smart LED bulb, on store shelves in the US and Canada in the first half of 2013, will debut on May 9 at Lightfair International in Las Vegas, the world's largest lighting trade show. GE's existing portfolio of LED bulbs includes a 13-watt LED (60-watt incandescent replacement) and a 9-watt LED (40-watt incandescent replacement), which was the first incandescent-shaped (A-19) LED in the world to earn Eenergy Star qualification.

Steve Briggs, general manager of LED systems, GE Lighting said GE's innovation team has tackled a previously insurmountable technical challenge: cooling a 100-watt A-19 shaped replacement LED bulb without making it physically bigger. He also said each subsystem such as optics, electronics and thermals needed to be designed for miniaturization and cooperative performance and that GE explored the limits of what's possible and pushed far beyond industry expectations as well as competitors' thinking and product offerings.

GE testing confirms 100-watt incandescent replacement metrics: 1,600+ lumens, uniform omnidirectional light distribution, 3000K color temperature, 25,000-hour life rating (22.8 years at 3 hours per day), dimmable, no mercury, instant full brightness and 60+ lumens per watt - all fitting neatly in the standard A-19 bulb shape.

Briggs added that GE's achievement does more than backfill for the 100-watt incandescent bulb and that GE now have a clear path to attaining even higher light levels, which will give customers more energy-efficient lighting options in both commercial and residential settings. This product fills a real customer need and further extends GE's LED lighting leadership, added Briggs.

Every GE Energy Smart LED incandescent replacement bulb, including the coming 100-watt replacement, offers smooth, incandescent-like dimming, minus the stepped dimming, flicker, shimmer, pop-on, drop-off or even inaction that plague other LED bulbs touting a dimming capability, the vendor said.

The 100-watt replacement LED will expand GE's current family of LED bulbs already offered in a broad range of shapes, wattages and colors, including its 40- and 60-watt LED standard incandescent bulb replacements, spot and flood lights (PAR20 & PAR30), ceiling fan bulbs (A15), medium globes (G25), small globes (G16.5), candles (CA10) and night lights (C7). All of GE's Energy Smart LED bulbs are rigorously tested to ensure constant color, long life and verifiable lumen ratings.

Let down by insurance policy fine print

Many people are at a loss when it comes to applying for a health and life insurance policy. A critical illness cover is no different. This type of insurance provides a single, lump sum payout should the insured become critically ill or injured as defined in the policy’s language.

But there is a catch: insurance companies do not just grant critical illness cover to any or everyone who applies.

Taking out a critical illness insurance might not be the most pleasing thing to go shopping for, but at least it’s practical, especially if your mortgage or business depends on you being fit enough to work.

The premise is that you’ll receive a payout from your insurer, depending on how much you pay them, for a diagnosis of a critical illnesses within six core areas: heart attack, kidney failure, major organ transplants, multiple sclerosis, stroke and cancer.

So imagine how you’d feel if you did get cancer, but your insurer said it didn’t count – which is what happened to Sally Wong.

In addition to being told she has cancer, Sally also found out she’s not going to receive any of the financial support she thought she’d paid for after being diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer called Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS).

This is when a non-malignant tumour has been found, which has the potential to become malignant and spread, but because it’s caught early it is still contained.

Sally took two critical illness policies out with an insurance company in 2001, costing RM500 a month and was diagnosed with DCIS in March 2006, and it was explained to her that her form of cancer, while still in the “in situ” phase, was also high-grade and therefore likely to become invasive. If this was allowed to happen, she would stand a low chance of survival.

She was given immediate surgery to remove the lump, followed by radiotherapy treatment to reduce the chance of the cancer spreading. An important factor in ensuring against this was to rest and recuperate. Fortunately, Sally had taken out a critical illness policy to protect her from having to work.

“When I was told I had in-situ again I thought to myself, ‘I can’t afford to have this – what’s my family going to do’? I felt desperate – I was told I needed months off work. You even end up thinking if it had invaded, at least I wouldn’t be a financial burden,” she added.

Because it had returned, they took no chances and removed the breast completely. However, complications with her skin healing following the mastectomy led Sally to need a further eight operations, leaving her physically unable to work.

“I feel that I’ve never fully gained my strength and can only do a fraction of what I could before I had my mastectomy. It’s a disabling amputation – one that leaves you totally incapacitated – but I’m never going to get any money.”