News Briefs

What is the Smart Grid?
The current system of power generation and distribution was built for another time, a time when electricity was generated from a single generator and distributed to many consumers.
No one knew exactly what was being used, where and when. The power station would crank up its generator when they assumed most people went home from work or school and started preparing for dinner or switching on lights and watching television.
When consumers went to sleep or when the power station thought they went to sleep someone would manually switch off a generator or two.
It was a model from 19th Century industrial thinking, the world has moved on and the internet has changed much of this.
The digital world is changing everything we do and when we do it. But energy generation and distribution is having a hard time keeping up.
Consumers want electricity on demand they work all hours of the day and night. To keep up with these changes the man at the power station would require to switch off and on generators as he sees fit but he still doesn’t know who and where needs power and how much is being used. In order to safe guard against this and avoid black outs and brown outs the power station keeps chugging along and more power is generated and sent out than what is needed.
This is what the Murienua Power Association with its international partners is trying to build. Its called the ‘Smart Grid’, power is produced from renewable energy sources from the roof tops of homes and businesses and shared amongst communities and homes. Power is not sent great distances where, by the time energy reaches its target consumer their needs may have changed and may no longer need that power.
This is important work as important as the software that runs your computer and the World Wide Web. The smart grid cannot work without computer software.
A good analogy would be to compare a diesel generator as the hardware of a power station it would not work without intelligence. The man that switches on or off the generator is the software - the intelligence of the system.
We know this won’t work all the time plus it would be very inefficient. We also know that humans forget and we know that humans make mistakes. The test that Murienua Power Association wants to do is to trial computer software in a real world situation.
Currently in a University in Canada simulations on 21 homes and the meeting houses in Kavera - Murienua has started.
Getting funding for such a ground breaking project is the next big step. A number of funding models are being analyzed and touted to funding agencies around the world.
Please visit us on www.sweetlightning.com

Photo nominated for award

In an annual competition to select the best PR photo in Germany, a Cook Islands image has placed among the top ten images in the tourism category. News Aktuell, a subsidiary of the leading German newswire DPA, engaged a jury of highly respected experts from the photo journalism field to short-list the 70 finalist images. A public, online voting process will determine the winning photo between now and the 16th of September when the competition ends.
The CITC photo was one of some 1,530 images submitted nationwide and is in illustrious company with heavy-hitting brands such as Daimler, Bayer, WWF, Goodyear, Greenpeace and Volkswagen in other categories. Submitted by Mikulla Goldmann PR and The Conjoint Marketing Group, the image featuring two proud and happy Cook Island “Mamas” on a small island road may appear simple but it conveys a powerful message to stress- and traffic-plagued Europeans.
Prominent competitors in other categories include the actress Milla Jovovich and religious leader Pope Benedict XVI.
“Every time we look at this photo, it evokes a genuine yearning to be in the Cook Islands. So much of what the Cook Islands are about is expressed in this photograph. It is very natural and has universal appeal while bearing a signature Cook Islands branding. This picture basically says it all without using a single word!” says Anita Goldmann, owner of Mikulla Goldmann PR on their reasons for submitting this particular image.
This is the News Aktuell site:
www.pr-bild-award.de

Warm welcome for cousin Oscar
Our Tahitian cousin, Oscar Temaru, President of Tahiti Nui, flew in on Thursday afternoon around 3pm along with his party for the Pacific Leader’s Forum meeting. He received a warm welcome at the airport from Prime Minister Hon Henry Puna, DPM and Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Tom Marsters and Minister for Agriculture and Health Hon Nandi Glassie. There was also a turou from pupils of Titikaveka College, a dance team and drummers. Tahiti Nui is attending the Forum as an Associate Member. On Sunday, members of the Tahitian community in Rarotonga will be hosting Temaru at a function. In accordance with a long standing request from Temaru, Pitt Media Group has for over 10 years, referred to Tahiti as Tahiti Nui and not that other name imposed by colonialists. -Charles Pitt

Pacific flavor to TV news

Ms Anau Fonokalafi, a news reporter from Tonga Broadcasting Commission, has her turn at presenting the local news for Thursday evening on CITV. During their two week stay on Rarotonga for media workshops conducted for PINA by PAC News, and for reporting on the Pacific Leader’s Forum meeting, each of the media representatives from the Pacific will have a turn at presenting the local news on TV. Already featured have been Ms Mona Ainuu from Niue Broadcasting Corporation and Alain Simeon from Vanuatu Broadcasting & TV. Next up will be Ms Fuapepe Fesili from TV3 Samoa and Ms Rolynda Jonathan from Oceania TV Palau. -Charles Pitt

 

Headlines : Times 290 02 March 2009
- Lucky $1,000 winner
- Century old palm trees and the French connection
- Koutu Nui takes part in Raui meeting in Moorea
- WOM Award Dinner for Ake Hosea-Winterflood
- Island of Atiu to host Koutu Nui AGM in June 2009