Tag: Transport

South Australia’s New Vehicle Number Plates

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By Melbourne, Australia correspondent Angelina Dawn Summers-Winter

Application of the latest technology in vehicle number plates is to see first light in South Australia starting from the 14th of November, 2017.

Unlike previous embossed number plates, these ones will be made from a composite laminate incorporating a luminous layer, removing the need to have the number plate illuminated at night. The technology for laminating the luminous layer is proprietary and number plates using the TritiumFilm™ technology will initially be manufactured in Japan by a small startup company operating in the Fukushima Prefecture, extracting the vital Tritium from sea water using the now-obsolete ALPS plant at the disused reactor site.

Another enhancement is to employ the German DIN-1451, falsification-resistant font for the vehicle registration number, making it nearly impossible to alter the plate to try to frustrate South Australia’s number plate recognition systems to be installed in increasing numbers, starting before the Christmas break. Point-to-point speed cameras are playing an increased role in the State’s budget; but drivers must simply obey the rules if they wish to avoid the higher fines for next year; to be detailed next month..

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Climate Researchers Produce Permanent Anti-Freeze

By Nuuk correspondent Rangi Wehtu Eriksson
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With cuts in government spending expected for the vital area of Climate Science, UN-IPCC scientists have engaged with peoples around the Arctic to explore new avenues of funding.

Climate scientists discovered irreversibly-melted Arctic ice more than a decade ago, but the phenomenon was, until now, not commercially exploited.

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Basslink to Become Bassland

By Canberra, Australia correspondent Erica Quarterbee on assignment in Launceston

Australian experts have been scratching their heads on how to fix the electrical power link between Tasmania and the mainland since it failed in December but a permanent solution may be at hand from the opposite side of the planet. The Basslink undersea cable has been problematic from the outset and finally failed shortly after Tasmania’s hydroelectric generators tried to use the link to export electrical power to the mainland.

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Sweden’s Vattenfall is proposing a sustainable solution that will provide Australia’s eastern seaboard with reliable, baseload, renewable energy capacity.

Bass Strait is a relatively narrow, shallow sea passage that separates Tasmania from the mainland by a few kilometres. It is infamous for its rough seas and high winds.

Vattenfall propose to exploit its experience in wind and hydro-power, deploying a chain of wind turbines, wave, tidal and pumped storage within Bass Strait. The ambitious plan is to build two land-bridges joining Cape Otway in Victoria to Cape Grim in Tasmania, via King and smaller Islands to the East; and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria to Cape Portland in Tasmania, via Flinders, Cape Barren and minor islands. Continue reading →

SCOOP! Volkswagen Group of America Bugs Out

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The following appears to be a leaked draft of a speech to be given by the CEO of  the Volkswagen Group of America at a press conference later today (USA time) . Author details will not be provided with this article to protect our sources.

Embargoed until 16:08, 1/8/2016

President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc,
Michael Horn

Former CEO Michael Horn

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I speak now to you as the most recent and indeed the last President of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Volkswagen Group has determined that it will be unable to sustain a profitable business in the USA and will have closed and abandoned all of its physical facilities in the nation by the time of this press conference. All factories, warehouses, offices and testing grounds have been abandoned without expectation of compensation. Continue reading →