Age
Friday 19/6/2009 Page: 6
A HOUSEHOLD solar panels credits program will be delayed for at least two months after the Opposition voted to refer the Government's renewable energy target legislation to a Senate committee. The delay could mean job cuts in the solar industry after several retailers told TheAge this week they could shed hundreds of jobs because of the continuing uncertainty surrounding the legislation.
The legislation could have been voted on as early as next week but will now have to wait until after a Senate committee reports on August 12. The committee investigation was proposed by Family First senator Steve Fielding and backed by the Opposition and independent Nick Xenophon.
Senator Fielding said any job losses in the solar industry caused by the delay were the fault of the Government's decision to link industry exemptions from the target to the emissions trading scheme, which is likely to be defeated in the Senate next week. That link has angered the Opposition, which has previously stated it would pass the renewable scheme but not the emissions trading scheme.
Clean Energy Council chief executive Matt Warren said yesterday's delay meant hundreds of jobs could be lost and industry expansion plans to employ more people would be put on hold. "We are in almost disbelief," Mr Warren said. "How can this policy that everyone supports not be getting through?" The Solar Shop, NuSolar and Clear Solar have all said they would halt expansion plans and review staffing if the uncertainty continued.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Windward-bound AGL sets a green course
Age
Friday 19/6/2009 Page: 4
AGL Energy has bought two windfarm developments from Transfield Services, the latest in a string of wind deals signed despite doubts over the Federal Government's renewable energy target. The $9 million purchase gives AGL the right to develop up to 236 MWs of extra wind capacity at Barn Hill, near Adelaide, and Crows Nest in Queensland.
The move follows further wind acquisitions by AGL and its rival Origin Energy in recent months, as the utilities prepare for a Federal Government policy that would require 20% of all power to cone from renewable energy from 2020. The policy is expected to drive up to $27 billion in renewable investment, and wind is set to dominate because it is the cheapest form of green energy. However, yesterday the Senate deferred the Renewable Energy Target Bill to a Senate committee, sparking an outcry from AGL and others in the industry.
AGL's managing director Michael Fraser said it was disappointing to see the bill used for "political football" between the parties over their climate change policies. "This unnecessary delay will impose additional pressures on an industry which is working very hard to promote job creation in a challenging economic climate."
The Clean Energy Council, which includes fossil fuel generators in its members, also slammed the Senate's move. AGL is positioning itself as the largest developer of renewable energy, while its listed rival, Origin Energy, has focused more on gas. Developing the sites acquired yesterday to full capacity could cost more than $600 million, and in March, AGL said it would spend $341 million expanding its Hallett project in South Australia.
Last month, Origin Energy bought wind development sites in Victoria but did not disclose a price. Royal Bank of Scotland analyst Jason Mabee said AGL was leading the wind energy race between the two locally listed utilities. "My view that AGL has definitely secured some of the best sites early on," Mr Mabee said. AGL shares rose 2% to $13.94 and Transfield shares fell 0.8% to $2.62.
Friday 19/6/2009 Page: 4
AGL Energy has bought two windfarm developments from Transfield Services, the latest in a string of wind deals signed despite doubts over the Federal Government's renewable energy target. The $9 million purchase gives AGL the right to develop up to 236 MWs of extra wind capacity at Barn Hill, near Adelaide, and Crows Nest in Queensland.
The move follows further wind acquisitions by AGL and its rival Origin Energy in recent months, as the utilities prepare for a Federal Government policy that would require 20% of all power to cone from renewable energy from 2020. The policy is expected to drive up to $27 billion in renewable investment, and wind is set to dominate because it is the cheapest form of green energy. However, yesterday the Senate deferred the Renewable Energy Target Bill to a Senate committee, sparking an outcry from AGL and others in the industry.
AGL's managing director Michael Fraser said it was disappointing to see the bill used for "political football" between the parties over their climate change policies. "This unnecessary delay will impose additional pressures on an industry which is working very hard to promote job creation in a challenging economic climate."
The Clean Energy Council, which includes fossil fuel generators in its members, also slammed the Senate's move. AGL is positioning itself as the largest developer of renewable energy, while its listed rival, Origin Energy, has focused more on gas. Developing the sites acquired yesterday to full capacity could cost more than $600 million, and in March, AGL said it would spend $341 million expanding its Hallett project in South Australia.
Last month, Origin Energy bought wind development sites in Victoria but did not disclose a price. Royal Bank of Scotland analyst Jason Mabee said AGL was leading the wind energy race between the two locally listed utilities. "My view that AGL has definitely secured some of the best sites early on," Mr Mabee said. AGL shares rose 2% to $13.94 and Transfield shares fell 0.8% to $2.62.
Waves put in harness
Daily Telegraph
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 23
A MAJOR conservation group has backed the creation of energy by harnessing the power of the ocean swells which batter much of the Australian coast. WWF-Australia will release a report today claiming energy from waves close to the coast can provide approximately four times Australia's current national power needs. "Harnessing just 10% [of the available energy] could supply about 35% of Australia's current power demand," the report said. Building wave energy power stations which could generate 1500 MWs of electricity by 2020 would create 3210 jobs in Australia, WWF-Australia says. The group said this would be enough to power 1.2 million households with clean energy.
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 23
A MAJOR conservation group has backed the creation of energy by harnessing the power of the ocean swells which batter much of the Australian coast. WWF-Australia will release a report today claiming energy from waves close to the coast can provide approximately four times Australia's current national power needs. "Harnessing just 10% [of the available energy] could supply about 35% of Australia's current power demand," the report said. Building wave energy power stations which could generate 1500 MWs of electricity by 2020 would create 3210 jobs in Australia, WWF-Australia says. The group said this would be enough to power 1.2 million households with clean energy.
Wind, sun and waves the powers that will rule seas
Australian
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 3
LAST month, Sydney firm Solar Sailor Holdings and naval architect Alastair Callender unveiled the design for what they said would be the world's first green super yacht, a 58m yacht powered by wind and sun as well as Solar Sailor's hybrid marine power technology.
According to Solar Sailor chief executive Robert Dane, the $33 million yacht will be able to store renewable energy in its batteries, which can power onboard electrics without the need or the noise of a generator, and to run at nearly eight knots on solar energy alone. "You could take 12 people around the world in a quiet environment, with low to no fumes, never have the generator running at night and even feed into the grid at the marina," Dane says.
Solar Sailor created its first solar vessel in time for the Sydney Olympics and it has been in use since by Captain Cook Cruises, as well as acting as its research and development vessel. In November the company will launch the first of four vessels being built in China for the Hong Kong ferry authority, and it is helping design drone vessels for the US military that will use a combination of solar, wind and wave power.
The attraction of the super yacht market, says Dane, is that about 600 super yachts of 30m or more are built each year and a green yacht could be the ultimate statement of sustain ability for the rich. These wealthy clients also tend to be captains of industry who will invest in such technology in the future. The international shipping market is recognised as a highly efficient and crucial transport system for ferrying goods across the globe, but it is also one of the most heavily polluting.
International shipping is estimated to produce more than twice the greenhouse emissions of the aviation sector, as well as substantial amounts of sulphur and nitrogen oxides from the bunker fuel used in the mostly slow-running two-stroke engines. Because of shipping's international nature, and the flags of convenience, ships' emissions are poorly regulated and poorly controlled.
There are efforts announced by the International Maritime Organisation to reduce SOx and NOx emissions, and planned reductions for greenhouse emissions are expected to follow soon. However, emission reduction technologies as they apply to the shipping industry are capital intensive and may increase overall fuel costs, which is why Solar Sails and others are confident that alternative technologies such as renewables will provide the answer.
Dane says the ferries developed by his company can reduce fuel consumption by up to 30%, particularly in areas where the ferry moves at low speed. In Hong Kong, the savings will be greater because at low speed the ferries will be able to travel under silent renewable power only and could approach areas previously prohibited to them because of their noisy, polluting engines. That could cut down routes by nearly one-third.
He says such reductions could be contemplated in bulk carriers and tankers as well. Last year, the company signed a deal with China's biggest shipping line, Cosco, to retrofit ships with solar energyed sails the size of the wings of a jumbo jet. The sails are covered with photovoltaic panels that can meet some of the ship's energy needs and harness the wind to reduce fuel costs by up to 40%.
Meanwhile, Hamburg-based SkySails is developing an alternative wind propulsion system that it says can reduce fuel costs for cargo vessels by 10% to 35%, or up to 50% for short periods under optimal wind conditions. SkySails' towing kite is being tested on two cargo ships belonging to the shipping lines Wessels and Beluga Shipping. Commercial production of its sails will begin later this year.
Its clients also include the Norwegian shipping company Wilson, which will install a 160sqm kite on the MV Wilson Grip, an 88m-long cargo vessel with a deadweight of 3700 tonnes. Sky Sails says its product could generate up to eight tonnes of tractive force for the ship, which usually needs about 11 tonnes of thrust to reach its cruising speed of 11 knots.
SkySails says kites with an effective load of 32 tonnes should be available in 2011 and models that have an effective load of up to 130 tonnes are planned. It says that nearly two-thirds of the world's estimated 100,000 cargo ships could be retro-fitted with its wind propulsion system. Solar Sails' Dane says although the shipping industry is perhaps 10 years behind the land transport industry in embracing alternative fuel and technologies, he envisages a day when all ships will be driven by renewable energy before becoming completely electric.
As fuel prices rise, and the cost and price of technology comes down because of economies of scale, I can see more sun, wind and ocean energy being used," he says. "And the second thing that will happen in conjunction with this is that the propulsion systems will move to electric propulsion." This will begin with a hybrid electric system, then move to an electric motor that runs off electric storage, be it a battery system or a hydrogen cell system. The advantage of the shipping industry, as opposed to aviation or land transport, is that potential weight issues associated with such systems are not a problem. It simply can be used as ballast.
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 3
LAST month, Sydney firm Solar Sailor Holdings and naval architect Alastair Callender unveiled the design for what they said would be the world's first green super yacht, a 58m yacht powered by wind and sun as well as Solar Sailor's hybrid marine power technology.
According to Solar Sailor chief executive Robert Dane, the $33 million yacht will be able to store renewable energy in its batteries, which can power onboard electrics without the need or the noise of a generator, and to run at nearly eight knots on solar energy alone. "You could take 12 people around the world in a quiet environment, with low to no fumes, never have the generator running at night and even feed into the grid at the marina," Dane says.
Solar Sailor created its first solar vessel in time for the Sydney Olympics and it has been in use since by Captain Cook Cruises, as well as acting as its research and development vessel. In November the company will launch the first of four vessels being built in China for the Hong Kong ferry authority, and it is helping design drone vessels for the US military that will use a combination of solar, wind and wave power.
The attraction of the super yacht market, says Dane, is that about 600 super yachts of 30m or more are built each year and a green yacht could be the ultimate statement of sustain ability for the rich. These wealthy clients also tend to be captains of industry who will invest in such technology in the future. The international shipping market is recognised as a highly efficient and crucial transport system for ferrying goods across the globe, but it is also one of the most heavily polluting.
International shipping is estimated to produce more than twice the greenhouse emissions of the aviation sector, as well as substantial amounts of sulphur and nitrogen oxides from the bunker fuel used in the mostly slow-running two-stroke engines. Because of shipping's international nature, and the flags of convenience, ships' emissions are poorly regulated and poorly controlled.
There are efforts announced by the International Maritime Organisation to reduce SOx and NOx emissions, and planned reductions for greenhouse emissions are expected to follow soon. However, emission reduction technologies as they apply to the shipping industry are capital intensive and may increase overall fuel costs, which is why Solar Sails and others are confident that alternative technologies such as renewables will provide the answer.
Dane says the ferries developed by his company can reduce fuel consumption by up to 30%, particularly in areas where the ferry moves at low speed. In Hong Kong, the savings will be greater because at low speed the ferries will be able to travel under silent renewable power only and could approach areas previously prohibited to them because of their noisy, polluting engines. That could cut down routes by nearly one-third.
He says such reductions could be contemplated in bulk carriers and tankers as well. Last year, the company signed a deal with China's biggest shipping line, Cosco, to retrofit ships with solar energyed sails the size of the wings of a jumbo jet. The sails are covered with photovoltaic panels that can meet some of the ship's energy needs and harness the wind to reduce fuel costs by up to 40%.
Meanwhile, Hamburg-based SkySails is developing an alternative wind propulsion system that it says can reduce fuel costs for cargo vessels by 10% to 35%, or up to 50% for short periods under optimal wind conditions. SkySails' towing kite is being tested on two cargo ships belonging to the shipping lines Wessels and Beluga Shipping. Commercial production of its sails will begin later this year.
Its clients also include the Norwegian shipping company Wilson, which will install a 160sqm kite on the MV Wilson Grip, an 88m-long cargo vessel with a deadweight of 3700 tonnes. Sky Sails says its product could generate up to eight tonnes of tractive force for the ship, which usually needs about 11 tonnes of thrust to reach its cruising speed of 11 knots.
SkySails says kites with an effective load of 32 tonnes should be available in 2011 and models that have an effective load of up to 130 tonnes are planned. It says that nearly two-thirds of the world's estimated 100,000 cargo ships could be retro-fitted with its wind propulsion system. Solar Sails' Dane says although the shipping industry is perhaps 10 years behind the land transport industry in embracing alternative fuel and technologies, he envisages a day when all ships will be driven by renewable energy before becoming completely electric.
As fuel prices rise, and the cost and price of technology comes down because of economies of scale, I can see more sun, wind and ocean energy being used," he says. "And the second thing that will happen in conjunction with this is that the propulsion systems will move to electric propulsion." This will begin with a hybrid electric system, then move to an electric motor that runs off electric storage, be it a battery system or a hydrogen cell system. The advantage of the shipping industry, as opposed to aviation or land transport, is that potential weight issues associated with such systems are not a problem. It simply can be used as ballast.
Jobs threat for solar firms kept in the dark - Uncertainty hits industry expansion
Age
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 7
Solar panel retailers are preparing to cut jobs and halt expansion plans because of uncertainty over the Government's solar credit program. Retailers contacted yesterday said they would have to collectively review the position of hundreds of staff in their call centres and administration because there is no guarantee the solar credits program will pass the Senate next week, delaying its process for at least two months.
Replacing the $8000 rebate that was abruptly withdrawn last week, the credit program is part of the Government's renewable energy target legislation currently before Parliament. The legislation has become embroiled in a political dogfight after the Government linked industry exemptions from the target to the passage of its emissions trading scheme, which is likely to be rejected by the Senate next week.
Simon Schauble, chief executive of NuSolar, one of the nation's largest solar retailers, said he would have to retrench 60 people if the passage of the bill remained uncertain. Mr Schauble added that he would halt recruitment plans for another hundred positions if the fate of the credits program remained in limbo.
The biggest issue is it is stalling momentum in the industry," he said. "We had plans to put on hundreds of people over the next year but we have stopped that until we know what is going on." Paul Wilson, executive director of retailer Clear Solar, said if the legislation does not pass next week he would reconsider the positions of 80 employees.
Chief executive of the Clean Energy Council Matt Warren said a quick survey of members yesterday revealed that solar retailers would shed hundreds of jobs across Victoria if the legislation is delayed. "The Government promised a smooth transition for the solar industry between the rebate and credits system, and the chances of that have now evaporated," he said.
The Opposition was supportive of the renewable energy target legislation, which will mandate that 20% of electricity must cone from renewable energy by 2020, until it was revealed partial exemptions for trade-exposed industry would not be granted until the emissions trading scheme is passed.
The Opposition will attempt to ' decouple" the target and trading scheme with a Senate amendment but are split in the party room on whether to vote for the bill if that amendment fails. Opposition resources and energy spokesman Ian MacFarlane, and Nationals Senators Barnaby Joyce and Ron Boswell, are pushing hard to block the bill if it is not amended.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong yesterday said renewable energy target legislation contained a provision to backdate the solar credit program to any solar panel sold after the end of the rebate program last Monday. "The Government is committed to passing this legislation," she said. "We call on the Opposition to act responsibly and support the renewable energy target."
It is understood the Government's Senate schedule has listed the renewable legislation bill as "desirable" but not "urgent" to pass next week, which means it will sit behind other bills, including the emissions trading scheme, in order of priority.
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 7
Solar panel retailers are preparing to cut jobs and halt expansion plans because of uncertainty over the Government's solar credit program. Retailers contacted yesterday said they would have to collectively review the position of hundreds of staff in their call centres and administration because there is no guarantee the solar credits program will pass the Senate next week, delaying its process for at least two months.Replacing the $8000 rebate that was abruptly withdrawn last week, the credit program is part of the Government's renewable energy target legislation currently before Parliament. The legislation has become embroiled in a political dogfight after the Government linked industry exemptions from the target to the passage of its emissions trading scheme, which is likely to be rejected by the Senate next week.
Simon Schauble, chief executive of NuSolar, one of the nation's largest solar retailers, said he would have to retrench 60 people if the passage of the bill remained uncertain. Mr Schauble added that he would halt recruitment plans for another hundred positions if the fate of the credits program remained in limbo.
The biggest issue is it is stalling momentum in the industry," he said. "We had plans to put on hundreds of people over the next year but we have stopped that until we know what is going on." Paul Wilson, executive director of retailer Clear Solar, said if the legislation does not pass next week he would reconsider the positions of 80 employees.
Chief executive of the Clean Energy Council Matt Warren said a quick survey of members yesterday revealed that solar retailers would shed hundreds of jobs across Victoria if the legislation is delayed. "The Government promised a smooth transition for the solar industry between the rebate and credits system, and the chances of that have now evaporated," he said.
The Opposition was supportive of the renewable energy target legislation, which will mandate that 20% of electricity must cone from renewable energy by 2020, until it was revealed partial exemptions for trade-exposed industry would not be granted until the emissions trading scheme is passed.
The Opposition will attempt to ' decouple" the target and trading scheme with a Senate amendment but are split in the party room on whether to vote for the bill if that amendment fails. Opposition resources and energy spokesman Ian MacFarlane, and Nationals Senators Barnaby Joyce and Ron Boswell, are pushing hard to block the bill if it is not amended.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong yesterday said renewable energy target legislation contained a provision to backdate the solar credit program to any solar panel sold after the end of the rebate program last Monday. "The Government is committed to passing this legislation," she said. "We call on the Opposition to act responsibly and support the renewable energy target."
It is understood the Government's Senate schedule has listed the renewable legislation bill as "desirable" but not "urgent" to pass next week, which means it will sit behind other bills, including the emissions trading scheme, in order of priority.
Solar has power to lower electricity bill
www.dailyexaminer.com.au
19th June 2009
IF you're finding it hard keeping up with changes to government rebates for solar energy systems, you're not the only one. But here's an easy explanation for you. Firstly, the Federal Government's recent removal of the Solar for Homes and Communities Plan only affects power generation systems known as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Solar hot water incentives remain unchanged, meaning people can pay as little as $60 plus installation (about $1500) for a solar hot water system. The government's new incentive scheme for solar PV systems is based on solar credits - a program which will not be means tested like the previous rebate scheme, and which will be open to the commercial sector.
Basically, in the solar credits program you only pay a%age of the cost of the system and the installer claims the outstanding amount from the government, with that amount dependent on how many RECs the system qualifies for. The government will pay those who install solar PV systems five times the value of the renewable energy certificates (REC) the system qualifies for (up to a 1.5 kW system). So a system that qualifies for 31 RECs will benefit for $6975 worth of credit (based on a $45 REC).
The homeowner may still have to outlay up to $7000 for a 1.5kW system, but several other schemes are there to help further. The Home Sustainability Assessment Scheme, which starts on July 1, offers a free 'green' inspection for any household in Australia and may allow access to a $10,000 interest-free 'green loan' for use on renewable energy solutions and water and energy-efficiency devices. The inspection may also recommend behavioural changes.
Northern Rivers Renewable Energy operator Trent Rogers is a certified 'green loan' assessor. He said he'd already been inundated by homeowners wanting to find out about the scheme. Mr Rogers, who supplies both solar hot water systems and solar PV systems, said there were many ways people could benefit from a combination of government incentive schemes. He said the NSW Government's proposed feed-in tariff Scheme would pay solar energy producers 60 cents per kW hour of energy produced.
The cost of energy on the current market is about 17 cents per kW hour. In the proposed feed-in tariff system, a house using 20kW hours of power per day but generates 6kW hours from its solar panels would receive a 20 cent credit per day from its electricity provider.
"If a household could cut their consumption down to 15kW hours per day, which is very achievable, their financial benefit is even greater," Mr Rogers said. Money saved and earned through a solar PV system could be used to help repay the $10,000 green loan, Mr Rogers said. "But it's not just about money. A house with a 1.5kW grid connect system will save 78 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - 2600 kilograms per year. "Also there is no doubt the price of electricity will rise significantly in the future and people should take action to avoid being caught out."
Murray Kirk, from The Solar Shop in South Grafton, said awareness about solar energy was on the rise because of the incentives and general media attention. "The weather in the Clarence Valley is beautiful for solar," Mr Kirk said. Mr Rogers agreed. "This area is perfectly placed to take advantage of the many incentives on offer. We have plenty of sunshine and people are highly aware of sustainability issues."
What does it mean?
19th June 2009
IF you're finding it hard keeping up with changes to government rebates for solar energy systems, you're not the only one. But here's an easy explanation for you. Firstly, the Federal Government's recent removal of the Solar for Homes and Communities Plan only affects power generation systems known as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Solar hot water incentives remain unchanged, meaning people can pay as little as $60 plus installation (about $1500) for a solar hot water system. The government's new incentive scheme for solar PV systems is based on solar credits - a program which will not be means tested like the previous rebate scheme, and which will be open to the commercial sector.
Basically, in the solar credits program you only pay a%age of the cost of the system and the installer claims the outstanding amount from the government, with that amount dependent on how many RECs the system qualifies for. The government will pay those who install solar PV systems five times the value of the renewable energy certificates (REC) the system qualifies for (up to a 1.5 kW system). So a system that qualifies for 31 RECs will benefit for $6975 worth of credit (based on a $45 REC).
The homeowner may still have to outlay up to $7000 for a 1.5kW system, but several other schemes are there to help further. The Home Sustainability Assessment Scheme, which starts on July 1, offers a free 'green' inspection for any household in Australia and may allow access to a $10,000 interest-free 'green loan' for use on renewable energy solutions and water and energy-efficiency devices. The inspection may also recommend behavioural changes.
Northern Rivers Renewable Energy operator Trent Rogers is a certified 'green loan' assessor. He said he'd already been inundated by homeowners wanting to find out about the scheme. Mr Rogers, who supplies both solar hot water systems and solar PV systems, said there were many ways people could benefit from a combination of government incentive schemes. He said the NSW Government's proposed feed-in tariff Scheme would pay solar energy producers 60 cents per kW hour of energy produced.
The cost of energy on the current market is about 17 cents per kW hour. In the proposed feed-in tariff system, a house using 20kW hours of power per day but generates 6kW hours from its solar panels would receive a 20 cent credit per day from its electricity provider.
"If a household could cut their consumption down to 15kW hours per day, which is very achievable, their financial benefit is even greater," Mr Rogers said. Money saved and earned through a solar PV system could be used to help repay the $10,000 green loan, Mr Rogers said. "But it's not just about money. A house with a 1.5kW grid connect system will save 78 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - 2600 kilograms per year. "Also there is no doubt the price of electricity will rise significantly in the future and people should take action to avoid being caught out."
Murray Kirk, from The Solar Shop in South Grafton, said awareness about solar energy was on the rise because of the incentives and general media attention. "The weather in the Clarence Valley is beautiful for solar," Mr Kirk said. Mr Rogers agreed. "This area is perfectly placed to take advantage of the many incentives on offer. We have plenty of sunshine and people are highly aware of sustainability issues."
What does it mean?
- REC - renewable energy certificate: A form of currency created by the Federal Government based on how much renewable energy your system produces. Eg. A 250-litre solar hot water system is awarded an average of 30 RECs ($1350 at today's rate). RECs are currently valued at about $45 each but vary according to market demand. They can be traded like shares.
- Solar photovoltaic (PV) system: A power-generating solar panel system which usually connects to the main electricity grid. The system produces power for the household's use with the excess being sold back to electricity suppliers.
- Solar hot water systems: There are two main types, flat plate and evacuated tube collector. The latter is more expensive but is said to be more efficient.
- Solar Credit: Multiplies the value of the REC by five ($225 per solar credit based on today's REC value of $45). Therefore a 1.5kw grid connect system which qualifies for 31 RECs will make a solar credit value $6975 (based on a $45 REC).
- Home Sustainability Assessment Scheme: Offered to all Australian households from July 1. Involves an assessment of water and energy efficiency in the home plus solar energy solutions. Households may qualify for up to $10,000 interest-free loans (over four years) to spend on solutions.
- Feed-in tariff Scheme: Proposed by the NSW Government - will pay up to 60 cents per kW hour of solar electricity generated.
- The average house uses 15 to 25 kW hours of electricity per day.
- A 1.5 kW PV system will generate 6 kW of electricity per day on average.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Solar Millennium Inks Massive Solar Thermal Deals
earth2tech.com
June 17th
If anyone doubts the ability of renewable portfolio standards to spur the adoption of clean energy projects, they should look to California. The state is requiring that electric utilities need to get 20% of their power from solar, wind and other renewables by 2010, prompting utilities to scramble to cut new deals. In the most recent whopper of an agreement, solar thermal developer Solar Millennium said today that it plans to build, own and operate two 242-MW power plants, with an option for a third, for investor-owned utility Southern California Edison. With the backlog of federal permitting for solar projects, however, its ambitious timeline may be slowed.
The solar developer wants to begin construction on the $1 billion plants — on federal land near Ridgecrest, Desert Center, and Blythe, California — by 2010 and start generating power by 2014. Ray Dracker, senior VP of project development for Solar Millennium's U.S, subsidiary, said the company is still about a year away from finalizing financing arrangements, and the projects will need approval from the Bureau of Land Management and the California Public Utilities Commission. Besides traditional project financiers, Dracker said the company would consider pursuing Department of Energy loan guarantees.
Erlangen, Germany-based Solar Millennium builds solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough technology, in which solar radiation is concentrated by long rows of parabolic mirrors onto piped fluids that drive a steam turbine connected to a generator. The company has developed Europe's first parabolic trough power plants — the Andasol projects, currently under construction in southern Spain — that once complete will produce about 180 GW-hours of power per year. Solar Millennium says its reflectors are stiffer and therefore more precise under strong winds and produce more power than older trough technologies. And the length of its collector units can be built up to 50% longer than older technologies, leading to cost savings.
But Solar Millennium has not yet built a commercial project in the United States, only installed a demonstration plant with its technology in California. Permitting for the project could be a stumbling block, since the proposed plants would be on federal land. The Bureau of Land Management, which grants permits for renewable energy projects on federal land, reportedly has a backlog of more than 200 proposed solar projects. Solar Millennium is one of the companies on that list, for a 242-MW plant to be built in the Amargosa Valley in Nevada to supply power to Nevada-based utility NV Energy. But the project has not yet been given the go-ahead to begin construction, even though the application was filed in October 2007.
Importantly, Solar Millennium said it wants to begin construction of the California plants before 2010, meaning they would be eligible for stimulus grants from the Treasury Department valued at up to $2.5 billion. So while regulatory approval could be a hurdle, the fact that the company has entered into a power purchase agreement with one of the country's largest utilities should make potential investors more receptive.
June 17th
If anyone doubts the ability of renewable portfolio standards to spur the adoption of clean energy projects, they should look to California. The state is requiring that electric utilities need to get 20% of their power from solar, wind and other renewables by 2010, prompting utilities to scramble to cut new deals. In the most recent whopper of an agreement, solar thermal developer Solar Millennium said today that it plans to build, own and operate two 242-MW power plants, with an option for a third, for investor-owned utility Southern California Edison. With the backlog of federal permitting for solar projects, however, its ambitious timeline may be slowed.
The solar developer wants to begin construction on the $1 billion plants — on federal land near Ridgecrest, Desert Center, and Blythe, California — by 2010 and start generating power by 2014. Ray Dracker, senior VP of project development for Solar Millennium's U.S, subsidiary, said the company is still about a year away from finalizing financing arrangements, and the projects will need approval from the Bureau of Land Management and the California Public Utilities Commission. Besides traditional project financiers, Dracker said the company would consider pursuing Department of Energy loan guarantees.
Erlangen, Germany-based Solar Millennium builds solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough technology, in which solar radiation is concentrated by long rows of parabolic mirrors onto piped fluids that drive a steam turbine connected to a generator. The company has developed Europe's first parabolic trough power plants — the Andasol projects, currently under construction in southern Spain — that once complete will produce about 180 GW-hours of power per year. Solar Millennium says its reflectors are stiffer and therefore more precise under strong winds and produce more power than older trough technologies. And the length of its collector units can be built up to 50% longer than older technologies, leading to cost savings.
But Solar Millennium has not yet built a commercial project in the United States, only installed a demonstration plant with its technology in California. Permitting for the project could be a stumbling block, since the proposed plants would be on federal land. The Bureau of Land Management, which grants permits for renewable energy projects on federal land, reportedly has a backlog of more than 200 proposed solar projects. Solar Millennium is one of the companies on that list, for a 242-MW plant to be built in the Amargosa Valley in Nevada to supply power to Nevada-based utility NV Energy. But the project has not yet been given the go-ahead to begin construction, even though the application was filed in October 2007.
Importantly, Solar Millennium said it wants to begin construction of the California plants before 2010, meaning they would be eligible for stimulus grants from the Treasury Department valued at up to $2.5 billion. So while regulatory approval could be a hurdle, the fact that the company has entered into a power purchase agreement with one of the country's largest utilities should make potential investors more receptive.
Petratherm drilling operations next week
www.news.com.au
June 17, 2009
Petratherm will next week start one of the largest drilling operations in the country at its flagship geothermal Paralana project near Flinders Ranges. The three-way joint venture project with partners Beach Petroleum and TRUEnergy Geothermal is now fully-funded until the proof of concept stage, Petratherm managing director Terry Kallis said.
''We are entering a most exciting stage of the company's development. The $7 million Federal grant, $1.5 million from options exercised and $7.3 million raised through an SPP offer and placement and the joint venture deal, has placed us in an excellent financial position,'' Mr Kallis said.
The company this week signed a Grant Funding Agreement with the Commonwealth Government Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism for its $7 million Geothermal Drilling Program. ''We will spud the first well (Paralana 2) on site next week,'' Mr Kallis said.
It will take about two months to reach the target hot rocks located about four kilometres below the earth's surface. The deep injection well, in tandem with a soon-to-be-drilled second well, is expected to establish an underground heat exchanger capable of circulating super-heated water during 2010.
Beach Petroleum will manage the drilling operations.
June 17, 2009
Petratherm will next week start one of the largest drilling operations in the country at its flagship geothermal Paralana project near Flinders Ranges. The three-way joint venture project with partners Beach Petroleum and TRUEnergy Geothermal is now fully-funded until the proof of concept stage, Petratherm managing director Terry Kallis said.
''We are entering a most exciting stage of the company's development. The $7 million Federal grant, $1.5 million from options exercised and $7.3 million raised through an SPP offer and placement and the joint venture deal, has placed us in an excellent financial position,'' Mr Kallis said.
The company this week signed a Grant Funding Agreement with the Commonwealth Government Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism for its $7 million Geothermal Drilling Program. ''We will spud the first well (Paralana 2) on site next week,'' Mr Kallis said.
It will take about two months to reach the target hot rocks located about four kilometres below the earth's surface. The deep injection well, in tandem with a soon-to-be-drilled second well, is expected to establish an underground heat exchanger capable of circulating super-heated water during 2010.
Beach Petroleum will manage the drilling operations.
Anger as green Energy Bill on backburner
www.news.com.au
June 19, 2009
POWER generation companies yesterday slammed the shelving of the expanded Renewable Energy Target Bill until at least August, just one day after it was introduced to Federal Parliament and 18 months after the legislation was promised. The Bill requires electricity retailers to source 20 per cent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The new target represent a fourfold increase on its forerunner and would have given a green light to more than $30 billion of energy infrastructure investment and thousands of new jobs.
Listed wave energy company Carnegie Corporation said the continuing uncertainty over targets was a big killer of investment. "Implementing the target would send a strong signal to industry that government is serious in facilitating investment," managing director Michael Ottaviano told BusinessDaily.
His comments came just hours after launching a joint report with WWF into the potential of Carnegie Corporation's CETO wave technology. Mr Ottaviano said wave energy could pull through $7 billion worth of investments and 3200 jobs by 2020. Listed energy company AGL, which yesterday announced it had bought two windfarm projects from Transfield Services for $9 million, expressed frustration at the delay.
"This legislation is a crucial stimulus package in supporting new renewable energy project," AGL managing director Michael Fraser said. "This unnecessary delay will impose additional pressures on an industry which is working very hard to promote job creation in a challenging economic climate."
Solar thermal company Ausra, which is close to announcing the launch of a portfolio of energy generation projects, called for the legislation to be passed without delay. "The deferral is very disappointing and stalls potentially billions of dollars worth of investments across all renewables," Ausra managing director Bob Matthews said. "If we don't get this legislation up, we won't get a flagship program and it will be like driving a car without an engine."
Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said the decision to link the Bill to the carbon pollution reduction scheme and the subsequent deferral of debate on the Bill could lead to immediate layoffs in the solar panel industry. "It's time for all sides of politics to stop treating renewable energy as a political football and get on with the clean energy revolution demanded by the clear majority of Australians," Mr Warren said. "Our question to the Parliament is why is this so difficult?"
June 19, 2009
POWER generation companies yesterday slammed the shelving of the expanded Renewable Energy Target Bill until at least August, just one day after it was introduced to Federal Parliament and 18 months after the legislation was promised. The Bill requires electricity retailers to source 20 per cent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The new target represent a fourfold increase on its forerunner and would have given a green light to more than $30 billion of energy infrastructure investment and thousands of new jobs.
Listed wave energy company Carnegie Corporation said the continuing uncertainty over targets was a big killer of investment. "Implementing the target would send a strong signal to industry that government is serious in facilitating investment," managing director Michael Ottaviano told BusinessDaily.
His comments came just hours after launching a joint report with WWF into the potential of Carnegie Corporation's CETO wave technology. Mr Ottaviano said wave energy could pull through $7 billion worth of investments and 3200 jobs by 2020. Listed energy company AGL, which yesterday announced it had bought two windfarm projects from Transfield Services for $9 million, expressed frustration at the delay.
"This legislation is a crucial stimulus package in supporting new renewable energy project," AGL managing director Michael Fraser said. "This unnecessary delay will impose additional pressures on an industry which is working very hard to promote job creation in a challenging economic climate."
Solar thermal company Ausra, which is close to announcing the launch of a portfolio of energy generation projects, called for the legislation to be passed without delay. "The deferral is very disappointing and stalls potentially billions of dollars worth of investments across all renewables," Ausra managing director Bob Matthews said. "If we don't get this legislation up, we won't get a flagship program and it will be like driving a car without an engine."
Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said the decision to link the Bill to the carbon pollution reduction scheme and the subsequent deferral of debate on the Bill could lead to immediate layoffs in the solar panel industry. "It's time for all sides of politics to stop treating renewable energy as a political football and get on with the clean energy revolution demanded by the clear majority of Australians," Mr Warren said. "Our question to the Parliament is why is this so difficult?"
Why California Doesn’t Have a German-Style Solar Feed-In Tariff
www.reuters.com
Jun 18, 2009
It's a question we hear all the time: Why doesn't California have a German-style feed-in tariff for the solar industry? German utilities pay a high price for any solar electricity fed into the grid, with the cost distributed among the country's ratepayers. The much-esteemed policy made Germany a huge solar market, with 1.5 GWs of new capacity installed last year. For comparison, the United States would need 6 GWs of annual solar installations, 20 times more than it has today, to reach the same level of market penetration.
But at a luncheon Wednesday to discuss solar trends in advance of the Intersolar North America conference next month, some California solar insiders voiced skepticism about whether a German-style feed-in tariff would be the end-all policy for the state.
In fact, California already has a feed-in tariff, but it's ineffective because the price is low, based on prices for natural gas. The state also has a net-metering program in which solar customers use the electricity they generate for their own use, then feed excess electricity into the grid, running their meters backward. In addition, California has a solar incentive program, which offers declining rebates for solar projects, and a renewable portfolio standard, which requires utilities to get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
So how about it: Why hasn't California copied Germany for its much-lauded feed-in tariff? Here are some of the reasons California solar insiders have put forth:
Jun 18, 2009
It's a question we hear all the time: Why doesn't California have a German-style feed-in tariff for the solar industry? German utilities pay a high price for any solar electricity fed into the grid, with the cost distributed among the country's ratepayers. The much-esteemed policy made Germany a huge solar market, with 1.5 GWs of new capacity installed last year. For comparison, the United States would need 6 GWs of annual solar installations, 20 times more than it has today, to reach the same level of market penetration.
But at a luncheon Wednesday to discuss solar trends in advance of the Intersolar North America conference next month, some California solar insiders voiced skepticism about whether a German-style feed-in tariff would be the end-all policy for the state.
In fact, California already has a feed-in tariff, but it's ineffective because the price is low, based on prices for natural gas. The state also has a net-metering program in which solar customers use the electricity they generate for their own use, then feed excess electricity into the grid, running their meters backward. In addition, California has a solar incentive program, which offers declining rebates for solar projects, and a renewable portfolio standard, which requires utilities to get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
So how about it: Why hasn't California copied Germany for its much-lauded feed-in tariff? Here are some of the reasons California solar insiders have put forth:
- A feed-in tariff doesn't factor in where and when the electricity is generated: Because a feed-in tariff pays the same price for any kW-hour of solar electricity, it doesn't encourage generation when and where the electricity is most needed, said Sheldon Kimber, vice president of development for Recurrent Energy, which installs and finances solar projects. "One thing the feed-in tariff doesn't do is expose everybody to different market signals on the grid, such as time-of-use and location," he said, and these are important factors for a sustainable policy.
- Germany's feed-in tariff led to higher panel prices: Because the tariff offered such a high price for solar electricity, it created a shortage of panels that led to much higher prices. "On the one hand, Germany absolutely built the global manufacturing base, but on the other hand, it built the manufacturing base around the $4-a-watt panel," Adam Browning, executive director of solar advocacy group Vote Solar, told me last month. "We will always have the German program to thank for what it did – it saved the world, as far as I'm concerned – but it also had some policy ramifications that haven't been entirely positive."
- California's many utilities, each with their own unique conditions, make it more difficult to create a feed-in tariff: Getting a German-style tariff in California would be more difficult than it might seem, Sue Kateley, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industry Association, told me in an interview last month. For one thing, the state has more than 30 vastly different utilities. Some are legally prohibited from increasing some of their rates, for example, and others have very low prices for conventional electricity. Los Angeles' utility, for example, has rates of about 5 cents per kW-hour. "If solar's going to cost 20 cents a kW-hour and customers pay 5 cents, will customers tolerate that kind of rate increase?" Kateley asked. Meanwhile, prices — and peak demand — in Germany don't vary as widely.
- The feed-in tariff only addresses wholesale electricity sold to utilities, and doesn't encourage energy efficiency: California's mix of policies encourages a wider range of solar projects than Germany's feed-in tariff, which is focused mainly on wholesale electricity, Adam Browning, executive director of solar advocacy group Vote Solar, said in an interview last month. Overall, the policy mix "gives California a unique robustness, a lot of different ways to capture the value of solar," he added Wednesday. Kateley put it another way: "We need it all," she said, including both a retail-electricity program to help consumers reduce on-site demand, a utility-scale program, and a wholesale-electricity program like a feed-in tariff.
Wave power to create jobs
www.news-mail.com.au
18th June 2009
Wave energy will provide clean, renewable power and thousands of Australian jobs for the future, according to a report. WWF-Australia has urged the federal government to invest in wave power following the release of a report on Thursday, titled, Power to Change: Australia's Wave Energy Future. Greg Bourne, WWF chief executive, said an investment in the industry would create up to 3,210 jobs by 2010. He called upon the government to give wave energy prominence in the Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme. "Renewable technologies are the nuts and bolts of Australia's clean energy future," Mr Bourne said on Thursday.
"What we are seeing here is the birth of a new industry that will provide tens of thousands of jobs and a technology and expertise that we can export around the world, as well as renewable energy to power Australia." Managing director of wave energy developer Carnegie Corporation, Michael Ottaviano, said studies at their plant in Western Australia showed there was mass potential for the industry to flourish.
He said Australia had several optimal sites for wave energy plants including Geraldton and Albany in WA, Port MacDonnell in South Australia, Phillip Island in Victoria and the southern and central coasts of New South Wales. "Australia has the largest and most consistent wave energy resource globally," Mr Ottaviano said. "At least 35 per cent of our current baseload power needs could be generated from the Southern Ocean."
18th June 2009
Wave energy will provide clean, renewable power and thousands of Australian jobs for the future, according to a report. WWF-Australia has urged the federal government to invest in wave power following the release of a report on Thursday, titled, Power to Change: Australia's Wave Energy Future. Greg Bourne, WWF chief executive, said an investment in the industry would create up to 3,210 jobs by 2010. He called upon the government to give wave energy prominence in the Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme. "Renewable technologies are the nuts and bolts of Australia's clean energy future," Mr Bourne said on Thursday."What we are seeing here is the birth of a new industry that will provide tens of thousands of jobs and a technology and expertise that we can export around the world, as well as renewable energy to power Australia." Managing director of wave energy developer Carnegie Corporation, Michael Ottaviano, said studies at their plant in Western Australia showed there was mass potential for the industry to flourish.
He said Australia had several optimal sites for wave energy plants including Geraldton and Albany in WA, Port MacDonnell in South Australia, Phillip Island in Victoria and the southern and central coasts of New South Wales. "Australia has the largest and most consistent wave energy resource globally," Mr Ottaviano said. "At least 35 per cent of our current baseload power needs could be generated from the Southern Ocean."
Leading German companies join for north African solar project
www.lowcarboneconomy.com
17 June 2009
Some of Germany's largest commercial enterprises are joining forces to fund an ambitious scheme to provide Europe with electricity harnessed from solar panels in north Africa. Munich Re, Siemens, Deutsche Bank, RWE and E.ON are among the firms that have put their names next to plans to form a renewable energy consortium next month, according to the Guardian.
The joint initiative, which would be the largest industrial solar energy project anywhere in the world, could require as much as EU400 billion (£338 billion) of financing, the newspaper reported. Torsten Jeworrek, board member of reinsurance giant Munich Re, said: "We want to found an initiative which over the next two to three years will put concrete measures on the table."
Deserts in Africa are seen as the Holy Grail for solar energy, with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis claiming earlier this year that panels covering a fraction of the Sahara could power the entire of Europe. The German initiative will make used of CSP (concentrating solar energy), which involves using large mirrors to focus the sun's rays in order to heat water into steam and drive turbines.
Last month, a report conducted by Greenpeace International in association with the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and IEA SolarPaces suggested that CSP could provide a quarter of the world's energy by 2050.
17 June 2009
Some of Germany's largest commercial enterprises are joining forces to fund an ambitious scheme to provide Europe with electricity harnessed from solar panels in north Africa. Munich Re, Siemens, Deutsche Bank, RWE and E.ON are among the firms that have put their names next to plans to form a renewable energy consortium next month, according to the Guardian.
The joint initiative, which would be the largest industrial solar energy project anywhere in the world, could require as much as EU400 billion (£338 billion) of financing, the newspaper reported. Torsten Jeworrek, board member of reinsurance giant Munich Re, said: "We want to found an initiative which over the next two to three years will put concrete measures on the table."
Deserts in Africa are seen as the Holy Grail for solar energy, with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis claiming earlier this year that panels covering a fraction of the Sahara could power the entire of Europe. The German initiative will make used of CSP (concentrating solar energy), which involves using large mirrors to focus the sun's rays in order to heat water into steam and drive turbines.
Last month, a report conducted by Greenpeace International in association with the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and IEA SolarPaces suggested that CSP could provide a quarter of the world's energy by 2050.
Are Fuel Cells the Key to Solar Thermal Technology?
www.greentechmedia.com
June 16, 2009
Why are photovoltaic panels more popular than solar thermal collectors on homes? One big reason is easy storage. New technology may change that.
SAN FRANCISCO - - When it comes to energy storage, solar panels have it easy. Homeowners with PV panels on their roofs effectively store power by shuttling electricity generated in the daytime onto the grid, said Jane Davidson, a professor at the University of Minnesota and the director of the Solar Energy Laboratory there, during a presentation at the Fifth Germany California Solar Day taking place at PG&E headquarters in San Francisco today.
It's not so easy in solar thermal. Concentrated solar thermal plants in the desert store heat from the sun in large tanks of molten salt. That can be used to create steam to run a generator for a few hours after the sun goes down.
But in homes it is not so easy. Although roughly 75% of the homes and commercial buildings in the U.S, could potentially derive some of their power from solar systems, most homes aren't located in the center of the desert and thus don't get the kind of solar radiation a CSP plant will.
To make solar thermal economical, many of these buildings will need seasonal storage. "There is a mismatch," she said. "They need systems so that we can store it in the summer for use in the winter." Which brings us to the headline. For long-term storage, storing energy in chemical bonds – the secret sauce behind fuel-cells – may be the answer. Theoretically, heat generated in the summer could be used to generate a reaction, which could then be unwound later in the year.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute, for instance are looking at ways to take heat from the sun, zinc, oxygen and a dash of carbon to create zinc oxide and carbon monoxide. Zinc oxide could then be unwound in further reactions to produce hydrogen for fuel-cells and zinc, which can be used to release electrons in other reactions. Some researchers have proposed storing heat through a zinc-to-zinc oxide reaction.
For more near-term storage, phase change materials – materials like zeolites and desiccants that move relatively easily from solid to liquid or liquid to gas states – could be used. And for really near-term storage, says Werner Koldehoff, a board member of the German Solar Industry Association, households could use the ultimate phase change material: water. Water could be turned into ice (through a solar-driven chiller) and changed into water.
In Germany, energy storage for some residential thermal systems is accomplished through storing liquids heated by the sun in pipes in the earth.
June 16, 2009
Why are photovoltaic panels more popular than solar thermal collectors on homes? One big reason is easy storage. New technology may change that.SAN FRANCISCO - - When it comes to energy storage, solar panels have it easy. Homeowners with PV panels on their roofs effectively store power by shuttling electricity generated in the daytime onto the grid, said Jane Davidson, a professor at the University of Minnesota and the director of the Solar Energy Laboratory there, during a presentation at the Fifth Germany California Solar Day taking place at PG&E headquarters in San Francisco today.
It's not so easy in solar thermal. Concentrated solar thermal plants in the desert store heat from the sun in large tanks of molten salt. That can be used to create steam to run a generator for a few hours after the sun goes down.
But in homes it is not so easy. Although roughly 75% of the homes and commercial buildings in the U.S, could potentially derive some of their power from solar systems, most homes aren't located in the center of the desert and thus don't get the kind of solar radiation a CSP plant will.
To make solar thermal economical, many of these buildings will need seasonal storage. "There is a mismatch," she said. "They need systems so that we can store it in the summer for use in the winter." Which brings us to the headline. For long-term storage, storing energy in chemical bonds – the secret sauce behind fuel-cells – may be the answer. Theoretically, heat generated in the summer could be used to generate a reaction, which could then be unwound later in the year.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute, for instance are looking at ways to take heat from the sun, zinc, oxygen and a dash of carbon to create zinc oxide and carbon monoxide. Zinc oxide could then be unwound in further reactions to produce hydrogen for fuel-cells and zinc, which can be used to release electrons in other reactions. Some researchers have proposed storing heat through a zinc-to-zinc oxide reaction.
For more near-term storage, phase change materials – materials like zeolites and desiccants that move relatively easily from solid to liquid or liquid to gas states – could be used. And for really near-term storage, says Werner Koldehoff, a board member of the German Solar Industry Association, households could use the ultimate phase change material: water. Water could be turned into ice (through a solar-driven chiller) and changed into water.
In Germany, energy storage for some residential thermal systems is accomplished through storing liquids heated by the sun in pipes in the earth.
Ocean Power Technologies two steps closer to wave-energy converter
www.birminghampost.net
Jun 18 2009
The US parent company of Warwick-based Ocean Power Technologies said it had passed two major milestones in the development of its state-of-the-art wave energy converter, the PB150 PowerBuoy. Once fully-demonstrated at the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland, the company intends to deploy PB150 PowerBuoys in projects around the world, including Oregon in the US, Victoria in Australia, and Cornwall.
The two recently-completed stages for the PB150 include the completion of the mechanical elements of the power take-off system and the awarding of the steel fabrication contract for the PowerBuoy structure. Ocean Power Technologies chief executive officer Mark Draper said the company was "on track to achieve our objective of utilising wave power as an economically-viable source of renewable energy".
Jun 18 2009
The US parent company of Warwick-based Ocean Power Technologies said it had passed two major milestones in the development of its state-of-the-art wave energy converter, the PB150 PowerBuoy. Once fully-demonstrated at the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland, the company intends to deploy PB150 PowerBuoys in projects around the world, including Oregon in the US, Victoria in Australia, and Cornwall.
The two recently-completed stages for the PB150 include the completion of the mechanical elements of the power take-off system and the awarding of the steel fabrication contract for the PowerBuoy structure. Ocean Power Technologies chief executive officer Mark Draper said the company was "on track to achieve our objective of utilising wave power as an economically-viable source of renewable energy".
Clean energy jobs the loser in Canberra’s climate change game
Clean Energy Council
18 June 2009
NATIONAL: Hundreds of employees in the emerging solar PV industry face immediate layoffs as a direct result of today's decision by the Senate to defer the government's Renewable Energy Target (RET) bill.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Matthew Warren said the decision will only further delay clean energy projects across Australia which are poised to create thousands of new jobs and stimulate multi-billion dollar investments in regional Australia. Mr Warren said Australia's emerging solar PV industry will again bear the immediate brunt of today's latest political posturing, with dynamic new companies halted in their tracks and now making forced job cuts in the wake of today's decision.
"Clean energy companies around Australia will now put hiring plans on hold and in some cases be forced to start shedding staff," he said. "Investing in large scale clean energy projects should be the front line response to climate change. This RET legislation should have been passed a year ago." "Instead we saw it introduced late into the Parliament and linked to the carbon pollution reduction scheme by the government, and now it has been deferred by the coalition," stated Mr Warren.
The Clean Energy Council provided detailed amendments to all sides of politics to remove any impediments to the passage of the RET bill. Industry representatives have met with senior advisers from Prime Minister's office. We have met with Minister Wong and her staff. We have met with senior advisers to Malcolm Turnbull. We have met the Shadow Minister Greg Hunt. And we have met with the Greens and the Independents. All have said that they support the introduction of the 20% Renewable Energy Target.
"Our question to the Parliament is then 'Why is this so difficult?" Mr Warren said. "It's time for all sides of politics to stop treating renewable energy as a political football and get on with the clean energy revolution demanded by the clear majority of Australians."
18 June 2009
NATIONAL: Hundreds of employees in the emerging solar PV industry face immediate layoffs as a direct result of today's decision by the Senate to defer the government's Renewable Energy Target (RET) bill.Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Matthew Warren said the decision will only further delay clean energy projects across Australia which are poised to create thousands of new jobs and stimulate multi-billion dollar investments in regional Australia. Mr Warren said Australia's emerging solar PV industry will again bear the immediate brunt of today's latest political posturing, with dynamic new companies halted in their tracks and now making forced job cuts in the wake of today's decision.
"Clean energy companies around Australia will now put hiring plans on hold and in some cases be forced to start shedding staff," he said. "Investing in large scale clean energy projects should be the front line response to climate change. This RET legislation should have been passed a year ago." "Instead we saw it introduced late into the Parliament and linked to the carbon pollution reduction scheme by the government, and now it has been deferred by the coalition," stated Mr Warren.
The Clean Energy Council provided detailed amendments to all sides of politics to remove any impediments to the passage of the RET bill. Industry representatives have met with senior advisers from Prime Minister's office. We have met with Minister Wong and her staff. We have met with senior advisers to Malcolm Turnbull. We have met the Shadow Minister Greg Hunt. And we have met with the Greens and the Independents. All have said that they support the introduction of the 20% Renewable Energy Target.
"Our question to the Parliament is then 'Why is this so difficult?" Mr Warren said. "It's time for all sides of politics to stop treating renewable energy as a political football and get on with the clean energy revolution demanded by the clear majority of Australians."
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Power to harness a vision
Northern Territory News
Wednesday 17/6/2009 Page: 20
THE Territory boss of an innovative renewable energy company has won a national award. Powercorp managing director Alan Langworthy received the ATSE Clunies Ross trophy for his efforts in the development of remote renewable power. His Darwin-based company has grown to be the most advanced high-penetration renewable energy company in the world. And it is now widening its work to mine sites and industrial complexes.
"Under his leadership, the company has pioneered the development of high-penetration wind/diesel systems which is now enabling remote communities around the world, from Antarctica to Azores, to have large-city-quality power, almost entirely from renewable sources," he said.
Mr Langworthy said renewable energy, such as wind energy, was not easy. "The problem in remote areas, when you want to produce power using renewable energy, are the peaks and troughs," he said. "The gusts in the wind cause surges of electricity on the grid. "You have to be able to absorb that - and you have to provide power when there's no wind. "We're able to move MWs of power into the grid and out of the grid in five milliseconds, so we're able to anticipate the problem.
"We're able to dampen the system down well before the problem becomes an issue to create a blackout. The idea was to try to get renewable energy into remote areas to substitute for diesel fuel. "While diesel fuel was cheap that was not of interest to people. "But having a dedicated interest to do that throughout my lifetime has driven me to try to continue with the work against all the odds - against lack of money, against lack of interest and lack of understanding of what the hell I was talking about."
Wednesday 17/6/2009 Page: 20
THE Territory boss of an innovative renewable energy company has won a national award. Powercorp managing director Alan Langworthy received the ATSE Clunies Ross trophy for his efforts in the development of remote renewable power. His Darwin-based company has grown to be the most advanced high-penetration renewable energy company in the world. And it is now widening its work to mine sites and industrial complexes."Under his leadership, the company has pioneered the development of high-penetration wind/diesel systems which is now enabling remote communities around the world, from Antarctica to Azores, to have large-city-quality power, almost entirely from renewable sources," he said.
Mr Langworthy said renewable energy, such as wind energy, was not easy. "The problem in remote areas, when you want to produce power using renewable energy, are the peaks and troughs," he said. "The gusts in the wind cause surges of electricity on the grid. "You have to be able to absorb that - and you have to provide power when there's no wind. "We're able to move MWs of power into the grid and out of the grid in five milliseconds, so we're able to anticipate the problem.
"We're able to dampen the system down well before the problem becomes an issue to create a blackout. The idea was to try to get renewable energy into remote areas to substitute for diesel fuel. "While diesel fuel was cheap that was not of interest to people. "But having a dedicated interest to do that throughout my lifetime has driven me to try to continue with the work against all the odds - against lack of money, against lack of interest and lack of understanding of what the hell I was talking about."
Boral, Bluescope, Caltex, Rio, Woodside, Xstrata: giving the big ETS lie
Crikey.com.au
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 1
The disparity between the public hostility of resource companies to the Government's emissions trading scheme and what they are telling investors has been highlighted by a request to the ACCC by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Climate Justice Program, a campaign by lawyers to use legal means to pursue climate change action.
As the AFR reported this morning, the groups have asked the ACCC to investigate their claim of misleading conduct by resource companies who have publicly made apocalyptic claims about the impact of emissions trading, but either downplayed the impact to investors or failed to make any disclosure. The companies are Boral, BlueScope Steel, Caltex, Rio Tinto, Woodside Petroleum and Xstrata.
This is no half-baked campaign by wild-eyed greenies. The ACJP first wrote to more than 200 Australian companies in 2003 warning them of the risks of climate change and the need to assess and respond to those risks appropriately. The enormous supporting documentation for the ACCC referral has chapter and verse for every claim made by the resource companies studied, and whether they matched disclosures to investors.
The study contrasts alumina giant Alcoa of Australia's repeated advice to investors via annual reports, ASX advices and prospecta about the uncertainty arising from the impact of the ETS and its specific concerns about each iteration of the Government's ETS, with the failure of other companies to do the same.
For example, BlueScope Steel told the media and a Senate Inquiry in April that "tens of millions of dollars would be wiped from the company's books in the first years", which would be "disastrous" for the company, but made no disclosure to investors of any kind. CEO Noel Cornish also said the Port Kembla Steelworks would be threatened, with a similar lack of advice to investors.
Boral claimed in a submission to the Government that modelling by a subsidiary showed that the impact of the Green Paper version of the ETS "could be profound" due to "the decline of financial returns to an unacceptable level." However, Boral's only advice to investors was from CEO Rod Pearse in June last year when he told investors and analysts "we have been undertaking scenario planning to understand potential financial impacts.., and we are well prepared for such changes."
Caltex told a Senate committee that while it could pass on the cost of carbon permits to motorists, there was a "risk of under-recovery of costs" which "could be significant relative to Caltex's profitability", but told analysts and its AGM in February that "the additional cost imposed on these emissions under CPRS will be incorporated into the price of the fuel and therefore passed on to consumers."
Rio Tinto produced a range of figures about the impact of the ETS, from $130m in the first year to $430m, $1b or $1.5b over the first decade of the scheme, and warned it would close half its open-cut coal mines by 2020. The single disclosure by the company has been a comment in its annual report that "Rio Tinto's costs could increase and its results materially affected."
Woodside Petroleum, one of the loudest whingers in the entire debate, was one of the worst offenders. Its Green Paper submission warned that it would scale back its LNG projects; Don Voelte told the media he would move the Sunrise project to East Timor, and that the ETS would double the company's operating costs. Woodside Petroleum made no disclosure to investors of any kind except to note in its profit announcement that "it remains too early to determine the impact of the proposed CPRS on current and future projects", which entirely contradicted Voelte's threats.
Xstrata also threatened to axe 1000 jobs if the ETS went ahead and close four coal mines, but said nothing to investors. Independent research suggests the truth is much closer to the companies' advice to investors, or lack thereof, than to their hysterical public comments.
A research report by Goldman Sachs JBWere in early May suggested the financial materiality of the CPRS (and "materiality" is the requirement for ASX disclosures) is likely to be insignificant for ASX100 companies, with five of the six companies referred to the ACCC facing carbon costs as a proportion of EBIT of 5% (Boral), 11% (BlueScope), 2% (Caltex), 4% (Rio) and 3% (Woodside Petroleum).
Except, those figures are BEFORE you factor in the free permits to be handed out to EITEs. Most of those companies therefore face costs of 5.5% of those numbers, which is a negligible amount even for Boral.
Given the non-materiality of the impact of the ETS, clearly the companies have not breached ASX or Corporations Law requirements, but the ACJP and the ACF have suggested the ACCC try to ping them for "misleading and deceptive conduct", which relies on taking lobbying and PR as forming part of the companies' normal trade and commerce. The day-to-day reality is that that is indeed the case, but whether the law stretches that far remains to be seen.
Either way, the hypocrisy - - or, more accurately, blatant dishonesty - - of some of our biggest polluters is on the public record. They have been damned by their own words, or the lack of them.
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 1
The disparity between the public hostility of resource companies to the Government's emissions trading scheme and what they are telling investors has been highlighted by a request to the ACCC by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Climate Justice Program, a campaign by lawyers to use legal means to pursue climate change action.
As the AFR reported this morning, the groups have asked the ACCC to investigate their claim of misleading conduct by resource companies who have publicly made apocalyptic claims about the impact of emissions trading, but either downplayed the impact to investors or failed to make any disclosure. The companies are Boral, BlueScope Steel, Caltex, Rio Tinto, Woodside Petroleum and Xstrata.
This is no half-baked campaign by wild-eyed greenies. The ACJP first wrote to more than 200 Australian companies in 2003 warning them of the risks of climate change and the need to assess and respond to those risks appropriately. The enormous supporting documentation for the ACCC referral has chapter and verse for every claim made by the resource companies studied, and whether they matched disclosures to investors.
The study contrasts alumina giant Alcoa of Australia's repeated advice to investors via annual reports, ASX advices and prospecta about the uncertainty arising from the impact of the ETS and its specific concerns about each iteration of the Government's ETS, with the failure of other companies to do the same.
For example, BlueScope Steel told the media and a Senate Inquiry in April that "tens of millions of dollars would be wiped from the company's books in the first years", which would be "disastrous" for the company, but made no disclosure to investors of any kind. CEO Noel Cornish also said the Port Kembla Steelworks would be threatened, with a similar lack of advice to investors.
Boral claimed in a submission to the Government that modelling by a subsidiary showed that the impact of the Green Paper version of the ETS "could be profound" due to "the decline of financial returns to an unacceptable level." However, Boral's only advice to investors was from CEO Rod Pearse in June last year when he told investors and analysts "we have been undertaking scenario planning to understand potential financial impacts.., and we are well prepared for such changes."
Caltex told a Senate committee that while it could pass on the cost of carbon permits to motorists, there was a "risk of under-recovery of costs" which "could be significant relative to Caltex's profitability", but told analysts and its AGM in February that "the additional cost imposed on these emissions under CPRS will be incorporated into the price of the fuel and therefore passed on to consumers."
Rio Tinto produced a range of figures about the impact of the ETS, from $130m in the first year to $430m, $1b or $1.5b over the first decade of the scheme, and warned it would close half its open-cut coal mines by 2020. The single disclosure by the company has been a comment in its annual report that "Rio Tinto's costs could increase and its results materially affected."
Woodside Petroleum, one of the loudest whingers in the entire debate, was one of the worst offenders. Its Green Paper submission warned that it would scale back its LNG projects; Don Voelte told the media he would move the Sunrise project to East Timor, and that the ETS would double the company's operating costs. Woodside Petroleum made no disclosure to investors of any kind except to note in its profit announcement that "it remains too early to determine the impact of the proposed CPRS on current and future projects", which entirely contradicted Voelte's threats.
Xstrata also threatened to axe 1000 jobs if the ETS went ahead and close four coal mines, but said nothing to investors. Independent research suggests the truth is much closer to the companies' advice to investors, or lack thereof, than to their hysterical public comments.
A research report by Goldman Sachs JBWere in early May suggested the financial materiality of the CPRS (and "materiality" is the requirement for ASX disclosures) is likely to be insignificant for ASX100 companies, with five of the six companies referred to the ACCC facing carbon costs as a proportion of EBIT of 5% (Boral), 11% (BlueScope), 2% (Caltex), 4% (Rio) and 3% (Woodside Petroleum).
Except, those figures are BEFORE you factor in the free permits to be handed out to EITEs. Most of those companies therefore face costs of 5.5% of those numbers, which is a negligible amount even for Boral.
Given the non-materiality of the impact of the ETS, clearly the companies have not breached ASX or Corporations Law requirements, but the ACJP and the ACF have suggested the ACCC try to ping them for "misleading and deceptive conduct", which relies on taking lobbying and PR as forming part of the companies' normal trade and commerce. The day-to-day reality is that that is indeed the case, but whether the law stretches that far remains to be seen.
Either way, the hypocrisy - - or, more accurately, blatant dishonesty - - of some of our biggest polluters is on the public record. They have been damned by their own words, or the lack of them.
Energy farm windfall - Output to triple and cut greenhouse gas
Herald Sun
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 12
VICTORIA is on the brink of a massive expansion in windfarms. Approval has been granted for 21 new farms, on top of the 13 already in operation. Their installation will more than triple the amount of power generated by wind from 428 MWs to 1554 MWs within the next two years, saving tens of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Companies have completed extensive community consultation but are holding out for the national renewable energy target legislation to provide a better return for their investment. The legislation will require 20% of total electricity to be renewable by 2020, and could be passed this week. Renewable energy company Pacific Hydro already has several farms in operation and is poised to get started on most of its planned projects.
Executive manager corporate affairs Andrew Richards said it had been a long and frustrating wait. "We have been working on getting projects to investment readiness so that we are ready to go," he said. "As a company, we hope to triple our capacity in Victoria." Mr Richards said in coming years windfarms would attract investment of between $3 billion and $4 billion in Victoria.
Environment and Climate Change minister Gavin Jennings said Victoria paved the way for the national renewable energy target in 2006 when it set a target of 10% renewable energy by 2016. He wants to see the legislation passed as soon as possible so Victorians could start experiencing the benefits.
Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said renewable energy industries would be a source of new jobs and economic activity. "The Brumby Labor Government looks forward to the expanded national RET being passed so investment in wind and other technologies continues to grow," he said.
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 12
VICTORIA is on the brink of a massive expansion in windfarms. Approval has been granted for 21 new farms, on top of the 13 already in operation. Their installation will more than triple the amount of power generated by wind from 428 MWs to 1554 MWs within the next two years, saving tens of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases.Companies have completed extensive community consultation but are holding out for the national renewable energy target legislation to provide a better return for their investment. The legislation will require 20% of total electricity to be renewable by 2020, and could be passed this week. Renewable energy company Pacific Hydro already has several farms in operation and is poised to get started on most of its planned projects.
Executive manager corporate affairs Andrew Richards said it had been a long and frustrating wait. "We have been working on getting projects to investment readiness so that we are ready to go," he said. "As a company, we hope to triple our capacity in Victoria." Mr Richards said in coming years windfarms would attract investment of between $3 billion and $4 billion in Victoria.
Environment and Climate Change minister Gavin Jennings said Victoria paved the way for the national renewable energy target in 2006 when it set a target of 10% renewable energy by 2016. He wants to see the legislation passed as soon as possible so Victorians could start experiencing the benefits.
Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said renewable energy industries would be a source of new jobs and economic activity. "The Brumby Labor Government looks forward to the expanded national RET being passed so investment in wind and other technologies continues to grow," he said.
Renewables outstrip fossil fuels
Australian
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 25
GLOBAL investment in new power generation from renewable energy sources surpassed that in fossil fuel related energy sources for the first time in 2008, according to a report by the UN Energy Program and market analysts New Energy Finance.
The report puts investment in new power generation capacity from renewable energy technologies at $US140bn, compared with $US110bn in fossil fuel technologies, although renewable energy still accounted for only 6.2% of the global generation mix.
A total of $US155bn was invested in companies and projects globally in 2008. While the growth rate slumped to just 5% compared with more than 50% in the previous year, it still represented an increase, whereas investment in almost all other sectors fell dramatically for the year.
However, capital raised via the public stockmarkets for equipment manufacturing and project pipelines fell 51% to $US11.4bn, mostly as a result of the slumping values of clean energy share prices, which lost 61% of their value during 2008.
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 25
GLOBAL investment in new power generation from renewable energy sources surpassed that in fossil fuel related energy sources for the first time in 2008, according to a report by the UN Energy Program and market analysts New Energy Finance.
The report puts investment in new power generation capacity from renewable energy technologies at $US140bn, compared with $US110bn in fossil fuel technologies, although renewable energy still accounted for only 6.2% of the global generation mix.
A total of $US155bn was invested in companies and projects globally in 2008. While the growth rate slumped to just 5% compared with more than 50% in the previous year, it still represented an increase, whereas investment in almost all other sectors fell dramatically for the year.
However, capital raised via the public stockmarkets for equipment manufacturing and project pipelines fell 51% to $US11.4bn, mostly as a result of the slumping values of clean energy share prices, which lost 61% of their value during 2008.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
We cannot go on living like this
Age
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 13
Humanity has pillaged the planet, but Australia can use its abundant natural resources to forge a new way.
LAST Thursday in Belfast: I'm off soon for a flight to Heathrow, then the 22:25 Qantas flight to Melbourne via Singapore. Hotel lobby packed with people, checking out or checking in and all speaking with some kind of Slavic accent. They flew here too. Many still have airline tags on their suitcases.
That's our expectation, tourist, scientist, business executive or whatever, that we can fly anywhere any time with no cost beyond the price of the ticket. But we know that's not true. There's a carbon cost. My personal carbon signature is awful! As I board the Boeing 747 at Heathrow, I might think: "What an extraordinary machine, how ingenious we are!" Perhaps, though, I could pause for an instant and consider: "This thing burns fossil fuel, are we so smart?"
Replacing Jet A with something that's clean and green is one of the more difficult challenges as we move to renewable energy. How expensive will that make air travel? What will happen to Australia's tourism industry if only a very few can afford to fly long distances, or choose not to because of the greenhouse gas issue? Will we take more time and go by boat? It's possible to put nuclear reactors on ships, and there's always wind and sail, the way some of our ancestors came to Australia.
Walking out the door of my Belfast hotel, I dodge the seeming millions of cars, buses and trucks - there's many fewer bikes here than in Melbourne, perhaps because it's always raining - and am soon in sight of the massive gantries of the old Harland and Wolff shipyard. Ships aren't built in Belfast any more, but they've left the gantries in place as giant, urban sculptures.
I could amble over to the Titanic dock: the Irish like to say, "She was in good shape when we gave her to the English!" According to some of the climate change literature, the whole of humanity is embarked on the Titanic. Surely that should make its act. But, as the Titanic story tells its, we are major risk-takers and too often in denial. The captain knew he had a coalbunker fire when the Titanic sailed from Southampton. Did the heat weaken some of her iron plates? The hull over that bunker apparently shows evidence of severe damage. Were they hurrying to get help from the New York fire boats?
To my way of thinking, the captain and the executives of the White Star Line did an unacceptable experiment. No matter what you believe about climate change, there can be absolutely no doubt that it's a totally unacceptable experiment to take 6.8 billion human beings living in a thin, fragile layer of atmosphere, then continually ramp up levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
The old denier/ geologists have no case when they claim all this has happened before. The human family numbered only about 5 million when the climate last changed dramatically at the beginning of the Holocene epoch, making the equation for us totally different. The professional denialists fail to emphasise that the Permian/Triassic period, when methane and carbon dioxide levels went sky-high way back in geological time, is also called the Great Dying.
Maybe atmospheric carbon wasn't the sole, or even the major cause of mass extinction, but can we take that risk? There's no doubt that the planet will survive. Will we? The greenhouse gas experiment we're doing with all humanity and every other large, complex life-form, would never be approved by any university ethics-of-experimentation committee, even if the experimental animals were only lab rats!
This Belfast trip was to give the keynote talk at an immunology conference, my field of expertise. The event was at Queen's University a fine institution named for Queen Victoria and founded a decade or so before our Wonderful University of Melbourne. The meeting went well, and the dynamic, young vice-chancellor invited me to stay on for a further day to attend a formal dinner and hear a lecture by the leading engineer/ scientist/poet and former president of India, the much-loved Abdul Kalam.
The livewire 77-year-old recited some of his poetry and talked about the tremendous importance of education at every level as we seek to counter climate change. We learned that India has loads of thorium and intends to develop a whole new series of thorium, rather than uranium, nuclear fission power plants. He spoke about Indian advances in nanotechnology that have already increased the efficiency of experimental solar cells to the 35-40% range. They're aiming for 60%.
Australia can be thought of as the biggest solar collector in the world. With our small, and relatively educated population, stable political system and massive resources of metals, we could and should lead the world when it comes to developing and exploiting renewable energy. There's also geothermal, wind, waves and tides. If we become a hub for cheap, renewable energy, then it will make sense to build refineries and new industries here.
Our universities will be central to this, as they bring together the tremendous breadth of science, technology, law, economics and, yes, the humanities, that will be necessary to develop real solutions and to convince people of the necessity for change. Who wants to be on the Titanic? Apart from anything else, it's old technology. The human reality has altered out of all recognition since it was completed in 1912. Now we must change again, and fast.
With change comes opportunity. Will Australia be the great experiment that brightens the future for everyone? What we can't afford is to be the ·world's ostrich: head in the sand, backside proudly in the air while other nations march on by.
Nobel laureate Professor Peter Doherty will give the introductory talk this evening at the University of Melbourne Festival of Ideas: www.ideas.unimelb.edu.au
Monday 15/6/2009 Page: 13
Humanity has pillaged the planet, but Australia can use its abundant natural resources to forge a new way.LAST Thursday in Belfast: I'm off soon for a flight to Heathrow, then the 22:25 Qantas flight to Melbourne via Singapore. Hotel lobby packed with people, checking out or checking in and all speaking with some kind of Slavic accent. They flew here too. Many still have airline tags on their suitcases.
That's our expectation, tourist, scientist, business executive or whatever, that we can fly anywhere any time with no cost beyond the price of the ticket. But we know that's not true. There's a carbon cost. My personal carbon signature is awful! As I board the Boeing 747 at Heathrow, I might think: "What an extraordinary machine, how ingenious we are!" Perhaps, though, I could pause for an instant and consider: "This thing burns fossil fuel, are we so smart?"
Replacing Jet A with something that's clean and green is one of the more difficult challenges as we move to renewable energy. How expensive will that make air travel? What will happen to Australia's tourism industry if only a very few can afford to fly long distances, or choose not to because of the greenhouse gas issue? Will we take more time and go by boat? It's possible to put nuclear reactors on ships, and there's always wind and sail, the way some of our ancestors came to Australia.
Walking out the door of my Belfast hotel, I dodge the seeming millions of cars, buses and trucks - there's many fewer bikes here than in Melbourne, perhaps because it's always raining - and am soon in sight of the massive gantries of the old Harland and Wolff shipyard. Ships aren't built in Belfast any more, but they've left the gantries in place as giant, urban sculptures.
I could amble over to the Titanic dock: the Irish like to say, "She was in good shape when we gave her to the English!" According to some of the climate change literature, the whole of humanity is embarked on the Titanic. Surely that should make its act. But, as the Titanic story tells its, we are major risk-takers and too often in denial. The captain knew he had a coalbunker fire when the Titanic sailed from Southampton. Did the heat weaken some of her iron plates? The hull over that bunker apparently shows evidence of severe damage. Were they hurrying to get help from the New York fire boats?
To my way of thinking, the captain and the executives of the White Star Line did an unacceptable experiment. No matter what you believe about climate change, there can be absolutely no doubt that it's a totally unacceptable experiment to take 6.8 billion human beings living in a thin, fragile layer of atmosphere, then continually ramp up levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
The old denier/ geologists have no case when they claim all this has happened before. The human family numbered only about 5 million when the climate last changed dramatically at the beginning of the Holocene epoch, making the equation for us totally different. The professional denialists fail to emphasise that the Permian/Triassic period, when methane and carbon dioxide levels went sky-high way back in geological time, is also called the Great Dying.
Maybe atmospheric carbon wasn't the sole, or even the major cause of mass extinction, but can we take that risk? There's no doubt that the planet will survive. Will we? The greenhouse gas experiment we're doing with all humanity and every other large, complex life-form, would never be approved by any university ethics-of-experimentation committee, even if the experimental animals were only lab rats!
This Belfast trip was to give the keynote talk at an immunology conference, my field of expertise. The event was at Queen's University a fine institution named for Queen Victoria and founded a decade or so before our Wonderful University of Melbourne. The meeting went well, and the dynamic, young vice-chancellor invited me to stay on for a further day to attend a formal dinner and hear a lecture by the leading engineer/ scientist/poet and former president of India, the much-loved Abdul Kalam.
The livewire 77-year-old recited some of his poetry and talked about the tremendous importance of education at every level as we seek to counter climate change. We learned that India has loads of thorium and intends to develop a whole new series of thorium, rather than uranium, nuclear fission power plants. He spoke about Indian advances in nanotechnology that have already increased the efficiency of experimental solar cells to the 35-40% range. They're aiming for 60%.
Australia can be thought of as the biggest solar collector in the world. With our small, and relatively educated population, stable political system and massive resources of metals, we could and should lead the world when it comes to developing and exploiting renewable energy. There's also geothermal, wind, waves and tides. If we become a hub for cheap, renewable energy, then it will make sense to build refineries and new industries here.
Our universities will be central to this, as they bring together the tremendous breadth of science, technology, law, economics and, yes, the humanities, that will be necessary to develop real solutions and to convince people of the necessity for change. Who wants to be on the Titanic? Apart from anything else, it's old technology. The human reality has altered out of all recognition since it was completed in 1912. Now we must change again, and fast.
With change comes opportunity. Will Australia be the great experiment that brightens the future for everyone? What we can't afford is to be the ·world's ostrich: head in the sand, backside proudly in the air while other nations march on by.
Nobel laureate Professor Peter Doherty will give the introductory talk this evening at the University of Melbourne Festival of Ideas: www.ideas.unimelb.edu.au
PowerSat: Space Solar Flies Closer to Earth
www.reuters.com
Jun 16, 2009
Solar from space: It may sound like a bad sci-fi movie, but a growing number of companies think it could solve the world's energy crisis. Among them is Everett, Wash.-based PowerSat Corp., which said today it's filed a provisional patent for two technologies it claims could help make the transmission of solar energy from space more cost-effective. CEO William Maness also told us that the 8-year-old company has received commitments for $3-$5 million in angel funding, which it's using to develop wireless power demonstrations on Earth, and is currently in negotiations for a first venture round in the single-digit millions.
The PowerSat news comes after Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Solaren, another space solar company, in April signed a deal to provide power to northern California utility PG&E. And Swiss startup Space Energy recently said it's working to launch a prototype satellite into space in 2-3 years.
Solar In Space
Space solar promises virtually unlimited power, with no carbon dioxide emissions. Undiminished by atmosphere or cloud cover, the sun's energy is five times more powerful than can be found on even the brightest desert on the planet, according to PowerSat's web site. And since the sun shines at full power all the time, solar energy-capturing satellites — called powersats — can receive more than 25 times as much power as a ground-based system of the same size, the company says.
Here's how space solar would work: Power satellites armed with solar arrays would generate direct-current electricity, then convert that electricity into radio-frequency energy, which they would transmit the same way that radio travels to your car. But instead of using electricity to transmit information, as a radio signal does, these satellites would be sending the electricity itself. The radio frequency would get converted back into DC electricity at the receiver on the ground.
The huge potential has been apparent for decades, but space solar faces plenty of challenges. The biggest challenge so far, says Maness, is that it's considered a risky investment. Nobody wants to invest billions of dollars to launch unproven technology into space, but it's hard to prove the technology works without trying it out on location. Those billions of dollars represent another major hurdle. Even SpaceX's target price of $500 per pound, with its Falcon 9 spaceship, is about 20 percent too high to make a commercial space-solar project viable, and other launch estimates "aren't even in the ballpark," Maness said.
PowerSat’s Innovation
Now, PowerSat has come up with two technologies that it claims could shave off roughly $1 billion in launch and operation costs for a 2.5-MW power station. The first of these is called BrightStar. Instead of one large satellite, Brightstar uses a cluster of hundreds of small ones, which work together — similar to cloud computing — to transmit the power as a group.
The second technology, called Solar Power Orbital Transfer or SPOT, uses the same solar array needed for wireless power transmission to power the electronic thrusters that boost the satellites from what's called "low Earth orbit," which is 300-1,000 miles up, to "geosynchronous Earth orbit," which is 22,236 miles up. Other satellites use a chemically fueled "space tug" to get to the geosynchronous level, and eliminating that power source reduces the weight of a satellite by 67 percent, dramatically decreasing launch costs, Maness said.
The company is developing a 10-kW demonstration project with unnamed potential clients. In about three years, PowerSat hopes to launch a low-earth-orbit project, which will cost about $100 million. And within five years, the startup plans to look for a partnership with a utility, a public-private partnership involving the government or an initial public offering to raise the money for a full-sized project.
PowerSat plans to launch a prototype project into geosynchronous orbit in 2015 and to reach full power production between 2019 and 2021. It expects the smallest economically viable project, with a capacity of 2.5 gigawatts, to cost between $4-$5 billion.
Raising that kind of money, even with proof in place, will be a colossal task. And a long path — the company hasn't even raised its first single-digit million venture round, although it has closed angel funding. It's clear that while space solar may be flying closer, it still has a long way to go.
Jun 16, 2009
Solar from space: It may sound like a bad sci-fi movie, but a growing number of companies think it could solve the world's energy crisis. Among them is Everett, Wash.-based PowerSat Corp., which said today it's filed a provisional patent for two technologies it claims could help make the transmission of solar energy from space more cost-effective. CEO William Maness also told us that the 8-year-old company has received commitments for $3-$5 million in angel funding, which it's using to develop wireless power demonstrations on Earth, and is currently in negotiations for a first venture round in the single-digit millions.
The PowerSat news comes after Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Solaren, another space solar company, in April signed a deal to provide power to northern California utility PG&E. And Swiss startup Space Energy recently said it's working to launch a prototype satellite into space in 2-3 years.
Solar In Space
Space solar promises virtually unlimited power, with no carbon dioxide emissions. Undiminished by atmosphere or cloud cover, the sun's energy is five times more powerful than can be found on even the brightest desert on the planet, according to PowerSat's web site. And since the sun shines at full power all the time, solar energy-capturing satellites — called powersats — can receive more than 25 times as much power as a ground-based system of the same size, the company says.
Here's how space solar would work: Power satellites armed with solar arrays would generate direct-current electricity, then convert that electricity into radio-frequency energy, which they would transmit the same way that radio travels to your car. But instead of using electricity to transmit information, as a radio signal does, these satellites would be sending the electricity itself. The radio frequency would get converted back into DC electricity at the receiver on the ground.
The huge potential has been apparent for decades, but space solar faces plenty of challenges. The biggest challenge so far, says Maness, is that it's considered a risky investment. Nobody wants to invest billions of dollars to launch unproven technology into space, but it's hard to prove the technology works without trying it out on location. Those billions of dollars represent another major hurdle. Even SpaceX's target price of $500 per pound, with its Falcon 9 spaceship, is about 20 percent too high to make a commercial space-solar project viable, and other launch estimates "aren't even in the ballpark," Maness said.
PowerSat’s Innovation
Now, PowerSat has come up with two technologies that it claims could shave off roughly $1 billion in launch and operation costs for a 2.5-MW power station. The first of these is called BrightStar. Instead of one large satellite, Brightstar uses a cluster of hundreds of small ones, which work together — similar to cloud computing — to transmit the power as a group.
The second technology, called Solar Power Orbital Transfer or SPOT, uses the same solar array needed for wireless power transmission to power the electronic thrusters that boost the satellites from what's called "low Earth orbit," which is 300-1,000 miles up, to "geosynchronous Earth orbit," which is 22,236 miles up. Other satellites use a chemically fueled "space tug" to get to the geosynchronous level, and eliminating that power source reduces the weight of a satellite by 67 percent, dramatically decreasing launch costs, Maness said.
The company is developing a 10-kW demonstration project with unnamed potential clients. In about three years, PowerSat hopes to launch a low-earth-orbit project, which will cost about $100 million. And within five years, the startup plans to look for a partnership with a utility, a public-private partnership involving the government or an initial public offering to raise the money for a full-sized project.
PowerSat plans to launch a prototype project into geosynchronous orbit in 2015 and to reach full power production between 2019 and 2021. It expects the smallest economically viable project, with a capacity of 2.5 gigawatts, to cost between $4-$5 billion.
Raising that kind of money, even with proof in place, will be a colossal task. And a long path — the company hasn't even raised its first single-digit million venture round, although it has closed angel funding. It's clear that while space solar may be flying closer, it still has a long way to go.
Solar steam boiler receives ASME's “S” certificate
www.manmonthly.com.au
15 June 2009
Ausra, a leading provider of large-scale solar steam systems for electricity generation and industrial processes, has been awarded the "S" Stamp Certificate of Authorization from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for the manufacture of the company's industrial solar steam power boilers.
Ausra is said to be the first and only solar steam power boiler manufacturer to receive this Certificate of Authorization under ASME's Boiler and Pressure Vessel (BPV) Code. An ASME "S" Stamp indicates that a product conforms to the latest edition of the ASME BPV Code and is considered the industry hallmark of acceptance and certification.
It is recognized in Australia and more than 100 other countries as a means of meeting government safety regulations. "Receiving the 'S' Stamp certification is a milestone that tells our customers that Ausra's solar energy boilers will be manufactured and assembled to meet ASME's stringent standards for safety, quality and reliability," said Ausra Australia CEO Bob Matthews.
"This certificate is a testimony to the high caliber of Ausra's engineering, manufacturing and construction management teams. Ausra is proud to be the first industrial solar energy boiler manufacturer to receive the "S" Stamp Certificate. "This stamp accreditation positions Ausra to immediately begin shipments of our solar energy steam boilers to a diverse range of utility and industrial customers."
With the ASME "S" Stamp Certificate, Ausra is also accredited to use the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors "NB" Stamp for its solar boilers.
Ausra's Next Generation Solar Thermal Installations Ausra's solar thermal steam systems incorporate next-generation Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology to: fuel standalone solar thermal and solar-natural gas hybrid power plants, augment power generation for new and existing fossil-fired power plants and generate direct solar steam for industrial applications, including enhanced oil recovery, desalination and food processing.
The company's Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, CA is the first solar thermal power plant to come online in California in nearly 20 years. The facility generates electricity for California's peak summer demand period. Kimberlina is also the first solar energy boiler to be permitted in California and serves as a testing and demonstration facility for Ausra's solar steam customers.
In Australia, Ausra provides solar-generated steam for the New South Wales-based utility Macquarie Generation's 2,000-MW Liddell coal-fired power plant, allowing the utility to generate electricity with less emissions.
To learn more about Ausra and solar thermal energy, visit www.ausra.com.
15 June 2009
Ausra, a leading provider of large-scale solar steam systems for electricity generation and industrial processes, has been awarded the "S" Stamp Certificate of Authorization from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for the manufacture of the company's industrial solar steam power boilers.
Ausra is said to be the first and only solar steam power boiler manufacturer to receive this Certificate of Authorization under ASME's Boiler and Pressure Vessel (BPV) Code. An ASME "S" Stamp indicates that a product conforms to the latest edition of the ASME BPV Code and is considered the industry hallmark of acceptance and certification.
It is recognized in Australia and more than 100 other countries as a means of meeting government safety regulations. "Receiving the 'S' Stamp certification is a milestone that tells our customers that Ausra's solar energy boilers will be manufactured and assembled to meet ASME's stringent standards for safety, quality and reliability," said Ausra Australia CEO Bob Matthews.
"This certificate is a testimony to the high caliber of Ausra's engineering, manufacturing and construction management teams. Ausra is proud to be the first industrial solar energy boiler manufacturer to receive the "S" Stamp Certificate. "This stamp accreditation positions Ausra to immediately begin shipments of our solar energy steam boilers to a diverse range of utility and industrial customers."
With the ASME "S" Stamp Certificate, Ausra is also accredited to use the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors "NB" Stamp for its solar boilers.
Ausra's Next Generation Solar Thermal Installations Ausra's solar thermal steam systems incorporate next-generation Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology to: fuel standalone solar thermal and solar-natural gas hybrid power plants, augment power generation for new and existing fossil-fired power plants and generate direct solar steam for industrial applications, including enhanced oil recovery, desalination and food processing.
The company's Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, CA is the first solar thermal power plant to come online in California in nearly 20 years. The facility generates electricity for California's peak summer demand period. Kimberlina is also the first solar energy boiler to be permitted in California and serves as a testing and demonstration facility for Ausra's solar steam customers.
In Australia, Ausra provides solar-generated steam for the New South Wales-based utility Macquarie Generation's 2,000-MW Liddell coal-fired power plant, allowing the utility to generate electricity with less emissions.
To learn more about Ausra and solar thermal energy, visit www.ausra.com.
Solar Power Reaches for Higher Goals
www.nytimes.com
June 14, 2009
MILAN — Sitting in the tiny cockpit of a self-designed and self-built solar energyed aircraft, surrounded by the silky whisper of air flowing around the fuselage and watching the majesty of the Alps unfold beneath you is "more than exhilarating," Eric Raymond said. "Actually, it was the most beautiful flight I've ever made."
On Sept. 23, 1910, Jorge Chávez, a French-Peruvian aviator, became the first man to fly over the Alps, crossing the Simplon Pass from Switzerland to Italy in his Blériot XI monoplane. On April 14 this year, almost 100 years later, Mr. Raymond, a Californian in his 50s with an engineering bent, repeated the epic flight in his solar energyed aircraft, the Sunseeker II.
The plane, as the name implies, is the development of an earlier model, in which Mr. Raymond crossed the United States in 21 flights in 1990. Basically a glider, the Sunseeker II can take off autonomously, driven by a foldable battery-powered push-propeller. Once airborne, it can cruise using nothing more than available solar energy.
The Sunseeker II was supposed to fly last week in an informal contest during the World Air Games, the Olympics of air sports, in Turin, but the contest was called off after the rival Icare II, a German machine, pulled out to undergo a month-long electronics upgrade. Mr. Raymond, a former hang glider pilot, is an alumnus of AeroVironment, the engineering firm that was founded by Paul MacCready, a legend in the industry for having built the first solar energyed aircraft, the Gossamer Penguin, and the first human powered one, the Gossamer Condor.
But the heart of the Sunseeker has been masterminded by Alan Cocconi, the father of most of the electronics control systems found in electric and hybrid cars and founder of AC Propulsion, the leading manufacturer of such systems. Together with Mr. Raymond, Mr. Cocconi designed, developed and flew a remote controlled aircraft that was able to fly for 48 hours, or two consecutive days and, most importantly, nights.
Another larger, better-funded project, for which Mr Raymond provided some of his experience, is the Solar Impulse. Originally conceived by Bertrand Piccard, the third generation of a family of Swiss explorers famed for their exploits in the troposphere and the deep oceans, the Solar Impulse project aims to fly a solar airplane around the world by 2011. The plane, with a wingspan of 61 meters, or 200 feet, on par with an Airbus A340, is scheduled to be unveiled at the end of this month.
Solar — and, by extension, electric — flight requires neither new, groundbreaking technology, nor complicated engineering. solar cells, batteries and electric motors have been around for decades. Still, the know-how involved in building and operating a very light airframe, propelled by an electric engine that uses stored energy extracted from sunlight, is state of the art.
The technical challenges mostly relate to weight, wiring and components. Since almost all solar flight designs rely on battery power for takeoff, the battery system is one critical component. Another is the photovoltaic cell array required to convert light into electrical energy.
Progress in developing more efficient photovoltaic converters is steady, rather than exponential, with an energy conversion efficiency of about 25 percent now achievable. "There's a form of black magic in dealing with electronic circuitry" said Eric Lentz-Gauthier, a member of Mr. Raymond's team. Stacked arrays of dozens of batteries and cells need to be individually monitored and precisely fine-tuned, he said.
Given that challenge, Mr. Raymond's achievements have been twofold. Not only has he designed and built a test-bed concept vehicle for technologies that may revolutionize general aviation over the coming quarter-century, but he has done so in the form of an extremely practical, easily deployed machine. Sunseeker II requires minimal preflight preparation, little ground crew support, no special operating equipment; like any conventional self-launching glider, it can be readied for takeoff within minutes of opening the hangar doors. Nor is it particularly fragile or delicate, unlike many earlier experimental projects.
A third-generation version of the Sunseeker is under development by Mr. Raymond and his crew. The new design will be a two-seater plane, and while it will be more advanced, with better batteries, cells and motor, it will also be less experimental. Intended to be more like a typical light aircraft, it will have a roomier cockpit and some cargo-carrying capacity and has been conceived for an extended lifespan and potential factory production.
Mr. Raymond, meanwhile, is also acting as a consultant on other advanced solar aviation projects, including Solar Impulse. He was recently invited to Shanghai to visit a British-Chinese venture, Yuneec, that is developing a two-seater, electric-powered aircraft. While commercial flight using electric propulsion is at best a distant dream, other applications of the know-how are more immediate. Commercially viable electric-motor gliders are already available, for example.
At the air games in Turin last week, an electric-propelled light aircraft piloted by a former NASA astronaut from Italy, Maurizio Cheli, reached a speed of 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, an hour, the Italian daily La Stampa reported. Perhaps more significantly, the ability to fly slowly, with little or no vibration, for long periods without having to refuel is a capability sought for surveillance and intelligence missions by the security and military forces of many countries.
Unmanned solar aircraft, circling slowly at an altitude of 50,000 feet, in the thin, calm atmosphere high above airline routes, could serve as surveillance and telecommunication platforms, relaying mobile phone and TV signals at a fraction of the costs of satellite networks, and returning to earth with relative ease for maintenance and upgrades. An official with the World Air Sports Federation said Mr. Raymond last week reported setting an altitude record for a manned electric aircraft of 20,387 feet. Official ratification by the federation is pending.
June 14, 2009
MILAN — Sitting in the tiny cockpit of a self-designed and self-built solar energyed aircraft, surrounded by the silky whisper of air flowing around the fuselage and watching the majesty of the Alps unfold beneath you is "more than exhilarating," Eric Raymond said. "Actually, it was the most beautiful flight I've ever made."
On Sept. 23, 1910, Jorge Chávez, a French-Peruvian aviator, became the first man to fly over the Alps, crossing the Simplon Pass from Switzerland to Italy in his Blériot XI monoplane. On April 14 this year, almost 100 years later, Mr. Raymond, a Californian in his 50s with an engineering bent, repeated the epic flight in his solar energyed aircraft, the Sunseeker II.
The plane, as the name implies, is the development of an earlier model, in which Mr. Raymond crossed the United States in 21 flights in 1990. Basically a glider, the Sunseeker II can take off autonomously, driven by a foldable battery-powered push-propeller. Once airborne, it can cruise using nothing more than available solar energy.
The Sunseeker II was supposed to fly last week in an informal contest during the World Air Games, the Olympics of air sports, in Turin, but the contest was called off after the rival Icare II, a German machine, pulled out to undergo a month-long electronics upgrade. Mr. Raymond, a former hang glider pilot, is an alumnus of AeroVironment, the engineering firm that was founded by Paul MacCready, a legend in the industry for having built the first solar energyed aircraft, the Gossamer Penguin, and the first human powered one, the Gossamer Condor.
But the heart of the Sunseeker has been masterminded by Alan Cocconi, the father of most of the electronics control systems found in electric and hybrid cars and founder of AC Propulsion, the leading manufacturer of such systems. Together with Mr. Raymond, Mr. Cocconi designed, developed and flew a remote controlled aircraft that was able to fly for 48 hours, or two consecutive days and, most importantly, nights.
Another larger, better-funded project, for which Mr Raymond provided some of his experience, is the Solar Impulse. Originally conceived by Bertrand Piccard, the third generation of a family of Swiss explorers famed for their exploits in the troposphere and the deep oceans, the Solar Impulse project aims to fly a solar airplane around the world by 2011. The plane, with a wingspan of 61 meters, or 200 feet, on par with an Airbus A340, is scheduled to be unveiled at the end of this month.
Solar — and, by extension, electric — flight requires neither new, groundbreaking technology, nor complicated engineering. solar cells, batteries and electric motors have been around for decades. Still, the know-how involved in building and operating a very light airframe, propelled by an electric engine that uses stored energy extracted from sunlight, is state of the art.
The technical challenges mostly relate to weight, wiring and components. Since almost all solar flight designs rely on battery power for takeoff, the battery system is one critical component. Another is the photovoltaic cell array required to convert light into electrical energy.
Progress in developing more efficient photovoltaic converters is steady, rather than exponential, with an energy conversion efficiency of about 25 percent now achievable. "There's a form of black magic in dealing with electronic circuitry" said Eric Lentz-Gauthier, a member of Mr. Raymond's team. Stacked arrays of dozens of batteries and cells need to be individually monitored and precisely fine-tuned, he said.
Given that challenge, Mr. Raymond's achievements have been twofold. Not only has he designed and built a test-bed concept vehicle for technologies that may revolutionize general aviation over the coming quarter-century, but he has done so in the form of an extremely practical, easily deployed machine. Sunseeker II requires minimal preflight preparation, little ground crew support, no special operating equipment; like any conventional self-launching glider, it can be readied for takeoff within minutes of opening the hangar doors. Nor is it particularly fragile or delicate, unlike many earlier experimental projects.
A third-generation version of the Sunseeker is under development by Mr. Raymond and his crew. The new design will be a two-seater plane, and while it will be more advanced, with better batteries, cells and motor, it will also be less experimental. Intended to be more like a typical light aircraft, it will have a roomier cockpit and some cargo-carrying capacity and has been conceived for an extended lifespan and potential factory production.
Mr. Raymond, meanwhile, is also acting as a consultant on other advanced solar aviation projects, including Solar Impulse. He was recently invited to Shanghai to visit a British-Chinese venture, Yuneec, that is developing a two-seater, electric-powered aircraft. While commercial flight using electric propulsion is at best a distant dream, other applications of the know-how are more immediate. Commercially viable electric-motor gliders are already available, for example.
At the air games in Turin last week, an electric-propelled light aircraft piloted by a former NASA astronaut from Italy, Maurizio Cheli, reached a speed of 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, an hour, the Italian daily La Stampa reported. Perhaps more significantly, the ability to fly slowly, with little or no vibration, for long periods without having to refuel is a capability sought for surveillance and intelligence missions by the security and military forces of many countries.
Unmanned solar aircraft, circling slowly at an altitude of 50,000 feet, in the thin, calm atmosphere high above airline routes, could serve as surveillance and telecommunication platforms, relaying mobile phone and TV signals at a fraction of the costs of satellite networks, and returning to earth with relative ease for maintenance and upgrades. An official with the World Air Sports Federation said Mr. Raymond last week reported setting an altitude record for a manned electric aircraft of 20,387 feet. Official ratification by the federation is pending.
Australia calls for aviation to be part of climate change treaty
www.guardian.co.uk
14 June 2009
The prospect of a worldwide carbon tax for airline passengers is gathering pace after the Australian government demanded the inclusion of the aviation industry in the global climate change treaty.
The Australian administration has proposed that airlines are set a carbon dioxide reduction target as part of the treaty that will emerge from the Copenhagen summit this year. The latest plan would see responsibility for any aviation deal handed over to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is overseeing the treaty talks.
The proposal is one of four suggestions for dealing with aviation emissions that will be discussed in Copenhagen. If the Australian plan is accepted, it is likely that airlines will join a global emissions trading scheme. British Airways backed a global scheme last week and its chief executive, Willie Walsh, said it would force up fares as airlines pass on the multibillion-dollar cost of acquiring carbon credits.
Under a carbon trading scheme, airlines would be set an emissions limit – for instance, no more than 97% of the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by carriers in 2005 – and would be given free carbon credits equivalent to 85% of that total. The rest would be acquired in an open auction, with the proceeds being handed to developing countries. The Australian proposal is gathering momentum because the body representing airlines at the talks is struggling to form its plan due to internal wrangling.
Environmental campaigners welcomed the Australian proposal. Joss Garman, of Greenpeace, said: "Scientists project that unless world leaders take action, ships and planes would eat up 50% to 80% of the world's carbon budget by 2050, making it essential that governments end these industries' special treatment and include them in a strong Copenhagen treaty."
14 June 2009
The prospect of a worldwide carbon tax for airline passengers is gathering pace after the Australian government demanded the inclusion of the aviation industry in the global climate change treaty.
The Australian administration has proposed that airlines are set a carbon dioxide reduction target as part of the treaty that will emerge from the Copenhagen summit this year. The latest plan would see responsibility for any aviation deal handed over to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is overseeing the treaty talks.
The proposal is one of four suggestions for dealing with aviation emissions that will be discussed in Copenhagen. If the Australian plan is accepted, it is likely that airlines will join a global emissions trading scheme. British Airways backed a global scheme last week and its chief executive, Willie Walsh, said it would force up fares as airlines pass on the multibillion-dollar cost of acquiring carbon credits.
Under a carbon trading scheme, airlines would be set an emissions limit – for instance, no more than 97% of the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by carriers in 2005 – and would be given free carbon credits equivalent to 85% of that total. The rest would be acquired in an open auction, with the proceeds being handed to developing countries. The Australian proposal is gathering momentum because the body representing airlines at the talks is struggling to form its plan due to internal wrangling.
Environmental campaigners welcomed the Australian proposal. Joss Garman, of Greenpeace, said: "Scientists project that unless world leaders take action, ships and planes would eat up 50% to 80% of the world's carbon budget by 2050, making it essential that governments end these industries' special treatment and include them in a strong Copenhagen treaty."
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