Gas hot water in Australia

[Kenny同志]

Technically we use coal gas hot water, liquefied petroleum gas hot water, and natural gas water in China. What about Australia?

When an Australian person says he uses gas hot water, does he specifically refer to natural gas hot water?

[fanglu]

I think it's pretty much always natural gas. At least that's what I have in Canberra, and it's what I've had before in Sydney.

I think if you get gas in cylinders, as opposed to from a pipe, it's usually LPG. Coal gas is not used much in Australia, although there are proposals for mining coal seam gas in Sydney, not sure if that's the same.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for your information Fanglu.

[imron]

Yep, it's almost certain to be natural gas, delivered via pipeline, heated with a boiler such as this. Unlike China where it's quite common to have a small gas hot water system that heats the water on demand, most gas hot water systems in Australia are larger boilers that are installed on the outside of the building that heat and store a couple of hundred litres at a time.

[rob07]

Liquefied petroleum gas is a type of natural gas as that term is used in English, normally referred to as LNG or liquefied natural gas. Australia has a lot of LNG, we export it to China in fact. When an Australian says natural gas in normal conversation, it could be either LNG or not, it is not specified. I think most of the gas in Australia is LNG though, as Fanglu says there is some coal seam gas and other kinds, but not on the same scale.

Edit: actually looking at it more closely it seems that maybe liquefied petroleum gas is something produced from LNG so not the same thing, so gas would be natural gas as others have said. LNG is regarded as a petroleum product though.

Edited June 23, 2011 at 01:01 PM by rob07

[Kenny同志]

thanks for your information too, Imron and Rob.

[Kenny同志]

And mulch, there’s not an exact word for it in Chinese. So what is mostly used as mulch? Is it something like fertilizer (be it naturally occurring like decaying leaves or man-made) or something else that we put on the base of a plant?

[jbradfor]

At least around these parts, 'mulch' usually refers to an often-dyed shredded wood product you put on the ground around plants. Its main purpose is cosmetic (better than bare dirt!), but it has the added advantage of keeping in (some) moisture and (maybe) cutting down on weeds.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you Jbradfor. You’re always here when I need help! : )

PS: I should use Google more. There’s a wiki entry on mulch. I was too lazy!

[skylee]

Liquefied petroleum gas is a type of natural gas as that term is used in English, normally referred to as LNG or liquefied natural gas.

I use it at home (it is centrally provided by Shell Gas) and it is called LPG, not LNG. Is it really natural gas? Not a petroleum product?

[jbradfor]

My understanding agrees with skylee's. Consider looking at the wikipedia page. ;) [That article does say LPG may come from "wet natural gas", whatever that is, but the chemical composition between LPG and LNG is quite different.]

EDIT: back to mulch, I looked at the wikipedia article. Around here, what that article calls "mulch" we call "groundcover" as a generic term for things that cover the ground (be it wood, rock, or plastic); "mulch" is used pretty much only for wood. I can't speak for other places.

[Kenny同志]

I am translaing an incentive program for environmental protection in Australia. It's interesting to know you call it groundcover in America. Thanks again.

[imron]

I would describe mulch as any plant material that has been through a mulcher/chipper/shredder.

I also find when doing this sort of translation that Google images is often more helpful than a plain Google search. See for example the results for an image search on mulch.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for your information Imron. I agree, Google Image is surprisingly helpful in dealing with this sort of thing. I tried it before you, haha.

[Kenny同志]

deleted for confidential reason

What are the credits? I consulted my Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, according to which the most appropriate definition is “a payment that sb has a right to for a particular reason”, but this just doesn’t add up in the above context as the credits appear to be the Certificates. :blink:

[xiaocai]

I think it is basically a certificate to prove that you are the owner of the solar power system which meets certain standards (the "Small-Scale Technology") and then you will be eligible to receive the government subsidy (credits). So what do you think does not add up here?

[imron]

In this case, it's a bit like 积分. You get points which are worth a certain dollar value that you can redeem off the cost of installation, or off your power bill.

So, say it would normally cost $100 to install solar or wind power. Then just for installing it, lets say you get given 20 points each worth $1. You can then use these points towards the cost of the installation, so instead of costing you $100, it costs you $100 - (20 * $1) = $80.

When you generate more power than you use, you also accumulate these points, which can add up to a total of maybe $650 a year. These points can't be redeemed for anything else, but they can be used to reduce your own power costs.

Instead of calling them points however, they are called credits.

[Kenny同志]

小蔡，Imron，谢谢你们俩。

But in the passage “these” seems unfounded. The only things I could identify for “these” are credits. What did the author refer to by saying “these”?

[imron]

1 credit, 2 credits.

This credit, these credits.

[Kenny同志]

The credits are the Certificates? I am mixed up.

积分是一张certificate?