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"Australian energy utility Origin Energy is under the SQHQ microscope this week readers. More specifically their claim that the carbon tax and subsidies for green schemes are the chief cause of the rise in the average electricity bill. Your correspondent received his bill from Origin on Thursday. While never a pleasant experience this was made worse by a clear message situated prominently on the lower right side of the document in big red letters. NSW Govt estimates that the Federal carbon tax and green energy schemes add about $332 a year to a typical 6.5MWh household bill. Sounds nasty readers but is it true?"

"Batteries are so ubiquitous today that they're almost invisible to us. Yet they are a remarkable invention with a long and storied history, and an equally exciting future. A battery is essentially a device that stores chemical energy that is converted into electricity. Basically, batteries are small chemical reactors, with the reaction producing energetic electrons, ready to flow through the external device. Batteries have been with us for a long time. In 1938 the Director of the Baghdad Museum found what is now referred to as the "Baghdad Battery" in the basement of the museum. Analysis dated it at around 250BC and of Mesopotamian origin."