Aeroplanes Are Coming

Two types actually, live military ones and dead big ones.

First the live military aircraft.

We are about to be subjected to a month or more of serious military aircraft flying out of Darwin. The cream of the RAAF, FA-18s, will be here for an exercise, with lots of flying out of the Darwin airport. And NOISE.

We live about 2km directly N of the end of the main runway and in the dry season do get more aircraft noise, albeit at a modest level, due to SE wind patterns during the dry season.

A short while ago............yes, the RAAF arrived! Very noisy. But it is in short bursts and a necessary evil to provide pilot training and exercises. Trouble is, this now replaces the jets of the Singapore Air Force, who also use Darwin for training purposes several times a year.

Oh well.............usually not at night, so you still get to have a good night's sleep.

The second stanza is somewhat intriguing.

Alice Springs has just received approval as only the first site outside of the USA as an "aeroplane wreckers yard" for large aircraft. It is a significant industry in itself and today they announced that Alice Springs has approval for a 100ha site - potentially holding up to several hundred aircraft, as an aircraft graveyard, adjacent to the airport site [really part of it].

Desert areas are generally preferred for these sites and Alice Springs obviously meets the criteria..........even if last year was much wetter than just about any previous year on record!

It is expected to be quite an industry development. More here-
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/26/3227852.htm

But let's wait and see when the first aircraft arrives.

Solar Power for Alice Springs

It is a small step, but it looks as if it will happen.

Alice Springs is to have a modest sized solar power station. The NT government has dressed it up as providing 1800 MW hours of energy per year, but in reality that is but 5MW per day, and not the instant rating more commonly seen when one speaks of a power station, eg 200MW for a conventional power station.

It is very modest..........but a significant step.

The local energy authority has been quite reluctant to move towards alternative or green power, so this seems a positive move.

Full details here: [more spin from Government] http://www.projectlink.com.au/IndustryNews/4015.html

For a city in the centre of Australia with a low rainfall and plenty of sunshine, solar power does seem a natural. Worley Parsons a large engineering company has proposed building a series of large solar thermal power stations for mining projects in remote areas. It is a well thought through concept, and the first one is planned for 2009/2010.

By the way, a solar photovoltaic system is currently being installed on the CrownePlaza Hotel in Alice Springs, and will provide about 85% of all power for the hotel.

Let the sun shine on the Alice!