Age
3 January 2011 Page: 9
AS THE newly installed Baillieu government grappled with what to do with Victoria's money and energy-devouring reverse-osmosis plant at Wonthaggi, Australia's chief scientist, Penny Sackett, was on Lateline talking about her newly released report Challenges at energy-water-carbon intersections. During the interview she expressed doubts as to whether energy, water and carbon budgets were being dealt with holistically around the nation, adding that treating one independently could harm the others.
Sackett has good reason for her concerns. Water and energy have long been linked through the water cooling of power stations on the one hand, and the electrical pumping and treatment systems on the other, even before desalination plants came on the scene as emergency drought response measures.
In Britain, the water industry is the third most energy-intensive sector per unit of product surpassed only by cement and chemicals. In America, electricity is the second biggest budget item in municipal water supply. The link in our region looks set to tighten even more with the national industry body, the Water Services Association of Australia, predicting that water utilities will use four times as much electricity in their reliance on reverse-osmosis desalination.
If and when such a massive increase in energy use comes to pass, water utilities will be well and truly hocked to the fortunes of an electricity sector facing supply shortfalls across most states from about 2014-15 partly due to the carbon pricing hiatus, partly due to inertia in New South Wales and partly due to demand growth.
For some time now, it's been possible to integrate electricity generation and water making in the one facility. The trick is to use the waste heat from a high-efficiency combined cycle gas-fired power station to run a multiple effect distillation plant, which operates by progressively lowering the pressure at which water boils.
Combined cycle stations offer lower emissions, vastly improved efficiencies (typically much above, for example, the Loy Yang Power Station) as well as flexibility with the capacity for remote operation. Such groupings are commonplace in the Middle East, producing electricity during the times that it's most needed and fresh water when electricity demand tails off.
And, there's no chance of the "purified water" being contaminated by marine sewer outfalls, as the CSIRO has warned may happen with the Kurnell reverse-osmosis plant south of Sydney. These innovative packages were passed over in Australia, which has plenty of natural gas at suitable sites, seemingly on account of poor advice and a haste bordering on panic.
It didn't help either that there has been no regular dialogue nor awareness of each other's standpoints between water and electricity network professionals. Only two government agencies in this country ACTEW in the ACT and the Power and Water Corporation of the Northern Territory combine water and electricity, thus allowing an in-house exchange of ideas.
A recent report by Britain's Environment Agency has suggested that water companies merge with energy producers to create more effective partnerships for tackling emissions The local challenge is the mismatch between an electricity supply sector, which is deregulated and operates nationally often with offshore ownership, and a water industry that remains in government hands with a local focus. Still, private-public partnerships have proven that this is not necessarily a barrier.
Unlike south-east Queensland, where the Tugun reverse-osmosis plant has been mothballed (with dams now 99.9% full), Victoria appears to have little scope to vary the contract for, or scale back, its plant, since reducing the output volume requires lowering the number of filtration tubes but keeping the pressure up in order to maintain purity a messy task, according to engineers in the know.
Let's at least put some perspective on the urgency of achieving a greater integration between the water sector and the power industry, whether our judgment is based on cost efficiencies or on global warming scenarios. In a just-published report, World energy outlook, the International Energy Agency says the earth is on course to warm 3.5° by 2100 leading to a planet which NASA says is far from the one upon which civilisation developed and to which life is adapted.
To reach the 2° target, the energy agency found that every signatory at Copenhagen would have to hit the top of its range of commitments a task that would need a global rate of decarbonisation twice as large in the coming decade as in the last. There are several pieces of work which suggest that the job can be done with renewable energies, using gas as the transition measure. In the meantime, bridging the policy abyss between the two infrastructures has to be one of the "big ideas" for administrations to pursue and that is a challenge for the new Baillieu government.
Dr Peter Fisher works on climate change adaptation and water management. He recently jointly presented a ICE WaRM-AusAid short course on this topic for water professionals from five Mekong countries.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Eucalypts could be part of the greenhouse solution
Sydney Morning Herald
31 December 2010 Page: 5
PLANTING an area almost the size of Sydney with malice eucalypts grown specifically to fire electricity generators could provide up to one-tenth of the nation's energy needs within the next 16 years.
The trees, grown in rows as energy crops on farms, could attract enough revenue to pay for the cost of establishing them within five years and would generate a reliable supply of electricity like coal, but with fewer greenhouse emissions, researchers at the Future Farm Industries Co-operative Research Centre say.
In the first study of the feasibility of an energy tree-crop industry on a national scale, the Western Australian researchers found that if 245 million trees were planted over 163,200 hectares, they could be used to provide significant baseload power to regional areas in Western Australia, NSW and Victoria by 2026, the lead author, Amir Abadi, said.
While there would be a good financial return for farmers and investors when Australia establishes a carbon market, the plantings are potentially viable even without one, his paper, Energy Tree Crops, says. Over the past decade, between 11,000 and 13,000 hectares of trees have been planted in Western Australia specifically to be harvested and burnt for electricity generation, and NSW is just starting, with plantings in lesser numbers, Dr Abadi said.
However, Delta Energy is testing the planting of more than 200,000 trees in central NSW for use as fuel at Wallerawang Power Station, near Lithgow, and the first bioenergy users will probably be in this state because of its higher population and heavy reliance on coal for power.
Wind and solar power provide only intermittent sources of power, but trees and other biomass, such as grasses, can potentially be used like coal to generate a reliable electricity supply, without emitting the same amounts of greenhouse gases, he said.
Research has shown that tree belts create wildlife corridors, attracting animals, birds and insects. They also provide shelter for livestock, increasing the survival rate of lambs and shorn sheep in harsh weather, he said. Dr Abadi, a farming systems economist, has collaborated with John Bartle, a biologist who for 20 years has been seeking a native tree that could be domesticated and provide a crop.
A Forbes grain grower, Matthew Duff, whose 24,000 mallee trees planted as part of the Delta Energy trial are 40 centimetres high, said it was "a bit of a punt". "It hasn't cost us any money at all,.. There's a lot of trees there, but we're not sure if we can make money off them in future. It's just adding value to our property".
31 December 2010 Page: 5
PLANTING an area almost the size of Sydney with malice eucalypts grown specifically to fire electricity generators could provide up to one-tenth of the nation's energy needs within the next 16 years.
The trees, grown in rows as energy crops on farms, could attract enough revenue to pay for the cost of establishing them within five years and would generate a reliable supply of electricity like coal, but with fewer greenhouse emissions, researchers at the Future Farm Industries Co-operative Research Centre say.
In the first study of the feasibility of an energy tree-crop industry on a national scale, the Western Australian researchers found that if 245 million trees were planted over 163,200 hectares, they could be used to provide significant baseload power to regional areas in Western Australia, NSW and Victoria by 2026, the lead author, Amir Abadi, said.
While there would be a good financial return for farmers and investors when Australia establishes a carbon market, the plantings are potentially viable even without one, his paper, Energy Tree Crops, says. Over the past decade, between 11,000 and 13,000 hectares of trees have been planted in Western Australia specifically to be harvested and burnt for electricity generation, and NSW is just starting, with plantings in lesser numbers, Dr Abadi said.
However, Delta Energy is testing the planting of more than 200,000 trees in central NSW for use as fuel at Wallerawang Power Station, near Lithgow, and the first bioenergy users will probably be in this state because of its higher population and heavy reliance on coal for power.
Wind and solar power provide only intermittent sources of power, but trees and other biomass, such as grasses, can potentially be used like coal to generate a reliable electricity supply, without emitting the same amounts of greenhouse gases, he said.
Research has shown that tree belts create wildlife corridors, attracting animals, birds and insects. They also provide shelter for livestock, increasing the survival rate of lambs and shorn sheep in harsh weather, he said. Dr Abadi, a farming systems economist, has collaborated with John Bartle, a biologist who for 20 years has been seeking a native tree that could be domesticated and provide a crop.
A Forbes grain grower, Matthew Duff, whose 24,000 mallee trees planted as part of the Delta Energy trial are 40 centimetres high, said it was "a bit of a punt". "It hasn't cost us any money at all,.. There's a lot of trees there, but we're not sure if we can make money off them in future. It's just adding value to our property".
Friday, 7 January 2011
Cash cloud over wind farms
Hobart Mercury
Wednesday 29/12/2010 Page: 20
TASMANIAN wind farm operators are confident planned projects will proceed despite a steep fall in the price of Renewable Energy Certificates. About $1.5 billion of wind farm investments nationwide are under a cloud as the price of certificates has dropped 20% from a high of $36 in October. The certificates are given to the generators of renewable energy and can be sold on the open market to polluters to offset their emissions.
Roaring 40s managing director Steve Symons said the drop would have to be reversed to bolster the industry in the medium term although the planned $450 million Musselroe project remained on track. Federal Government changes to the certificate scheme will see major and minor projects traded in different markets from January 1. "It's not as though we're not going flat out on Musselroe and waiting for the RECs to move, we are at the moment full steam ahead on Musselroe", Mr Symons said. "There's an expectation from the shareholders that we will see the REC price improve as the new scheme works through. "The market needs those certificates to be up around $50 to $60".
The project manager for the proposed 225MW Cattle Hill wind farm, Shane Bartel, said the REC price was not critical but a higher price helped. "Renewable Energy Certificates really do make wind farms happen and any degree of security is really sought after by the industry", he said. Mr Bartel said the Federal Government's target of 45,000GW hours of renewable energy a year by 2020 helped keep the industry going but more was needed.
"The 20% [target] by 2020 that we currently have is fantastic but after that we need something more: either a price on carbon or something else like that". He said the Cattle Hill project was proceeding well, with approvals likely in the first quarter of 2011 and construction near Lake Echo to start in 2012.
Wind Farms Operating:
Proposed Wind Farms:
Wednesday 29/12/2010 Page: 20
TASMANIAN wind farm operators are confident planned projects will proceed despite a steep fall in the price of Renewable Energy Certificates. About $1.5 billion of wind farm investments nationwide are under a cloud as the price of certificates has dropped 20% from a high of $36 in October. The certificates are given to the generators of renewable energy and can be sold on the open market to polluters to offset their emissions.
Roaring 40s managing director Steve Symons said the drop would have to be reversed to bolster the industry in the medium term although the planned $450 million Musselroe project remained on track. Federal Government changes to the certificate scheme will see major and minor projects traded in different markets from January 1. "It's not as though we're not going flat out on Musselroe and waiting for the RECs to move, we are at the moment full steam ahead on Musselroe", Mr Symons said. "There's an expectation from the shareholders that we will see the REC price improve as the new scheme works through. "The market needs those certificates to be up around $50 to $60".
The project manager for the proposed 225MW Cattle Hill wind farm, Shane Bartel, said the REC price was not critical but a higher price helped. "Renewable Energy Certificates really do make wind farms happen and any degree of security is really sought after by the industry", he said. Mr Bartel said the Federal Government's target of 45,000GW hours of renewable energy a year by 2020 helped keep the industry going but more was needed.
"The 20% [target] by 2020 that we currently have is fantastic but after that we need something more: either a price on carbon or something else like that". He said the Cattle Hill project was proceeding well, with approvals likely in the first quarter of 2011 and construction near Lake Echo to start in 2012.
Wind Farms Operating:
- Woolnorth Wind Farm: 62 turbines 140 megawatt (mW)
- Huxley Hill Wind Farm, King Island: 2.45mW.
- Nichols Poultry farm: 225 kilowatt (kW).
- Flinders Island: 80 kW.
Proposed Wind Farms:
- Musselroe Wind Farm 56 turbines,168mW.
- White Rock Wind Farm, 220 turbines, 400mW.
- Cattle Hill Wind Farm 50-75 turbines. 225mW.
Think ahead for wind
Age
Tuesday 28/12/2010 Page: 8
THERE are huge investments in wind power going ahead around the world right now. Wind offers the best bang for the buck in clean energy at present. We do not need yet another Senate inquiry, as suggested by Tim Le Roy (Letters, 21/12). We have talked enough about mitigating greenhouse gas pollution. It is time for action.
With off-the-shelf technologies available, including wind, solar thermal, hydro and reverse-hydro storage and biofuels, we can achieve 100 per cent renewable energy in Australia within 10 to 20 years. It is up to government to set the parameters to achieve this.
John Merory, Ivanhoe East
Tuesday 28/12/2010 Page: 8
THERE are huge investments in wind power going ahead around the world right now. Wind offers the best bang for the buck in clean energy at present. We do not need yet another Senate inquiry, as suggested by Tim Le Roy (Letters, 21/12). We have talked enough about mitigating greenhouse gas pollution. It is time for action.
With off-the-shelf technologies available, including wind, solar thermal, hydro and reverse-hydro storage and biofuels, we can achieve 100 per cent renewable energy in Australia within 10 to 20 years. It is up to government to set the parameters to achieve this.
John Merory, Ivanhoe East
Bungendore wind farm expansion
Sunday Canberra Times
26 December 2010, Page: 7
A company operating a major wind farm north of Bungendore is proposing a $180 million expansion into an adjacent site, potentially erecting a further 55 wind turbines. The proposal has been lodged with the NSW Planning Department by Capital II Wind Farm, a company wholly owned by renewable energy business Infigen Energy. Infigen Energy already operates the 67-turbine Capital Wind Farm, east of Lake George. It proposes its new wind farm be operational by mid-2012.
Infigen Energy's proposed wind farm expansion comes as the company plans a $150 million joint venture with SunTech Power Australia to construct a solar farm, also adjacent to the Capital Wind Farm. The solar panels would span about 100ha. The photovoltaic array proposed would have a maximum height of 3.5m. Infigen Energy hopes to secure approval for two layouts for its new wind farm - although only one would be built.
The proposed operation would be located within the Palerang local government area, about 10km north of Bungendore and 30km east of Canberra. It would cover about 50km², although the actual area occupied by wind turbine equipment would be about 47ha. Under Infigen Energy's proposal, each generator would comprise a three bladed rotor with a diameter of up to 114m mounted on a 100m steel tower. The top of the blade sweep would be up to 157m above the ground.
The project's construction phase would take 12 to 18 months. - - Palerang Council Mayor Walter Raynolds welcomed the planned investment and said Infigen Energy would provide about $2 million to fund infrastructure - principally for roads - if the proposals went ahead. "It's a great investment to the district and all sorts of good things", he said. "... It's good for local infrastructure and local employment and local tourism".
Infigen Energy development manager Laura Dunphy said the energy company was working on a funding proposal with Palerang Council, but the details had not been finalised. Palerang Greens councillor Catherine Moore said "some people benefit from wind farms when they're privately owned". "[However] a lot of other people feel that they're right next to them, they're looking at them, they're often feeling the vibrations, but they're not getting the benefit by way of compensation", she said. "I guess in general terms I'd like to see us moving towards community owned [wind farms]. And maybe more of them and smaller".
She added, "If we had some land in Palerang... we could actually start a community-owned wind farm and get the benefit for the whole community, rather than just a few people". Ms Moore said wind farms were a move away from coal-fired power, "which is certainly a big thing for the Greens". An environmental assessment of the proposal produced by the consultancy Monteath and Powys found the wind turbines and associated infrastructure would be spread over open farming country that had been extensively cleared.
"There are minimal obstructions in the landscape as the area is predominantly used for grazing and some cropping", it found. The environmental assessment noted potential impacts on flora and fauna related to site disturbance during construction, and once operational, the possibility of "blade strike by birds or bats". "It was determined that the project is unlikely to impose a 'significant impact' on local populations of threatened species, endangered communities or their habitats... on the basis that the proposed works are limited to disturbing only a minor portion of the site", it said.
"At most, there are occasional visits by woodland birds and bats, although there is no breeding or special habitat for such species on the project site". Monteath and Powys found if the project was implemented in accordance with environmental management controls identified in the assessment, it would not "compromise environmental values at the locality, including ecological, heritage, soils and water quality". "Overall, it is considered once the mitigation measures have been applied that any adverse impacts will be of a minor nature and outweighed by the positive longer-term environmental, social and commercial benefits of the project".
26 December 2010, Page: 7
A company operating a major wind farm north of Bungendore is proposing a $180 million expansion into an adjacent site, potentially erecting a further 55 wind turbines. The proposal has been lodged with the NSW Planning Department by Capital II Wind Farm, a company wholly owned by renewable energy business Infigen Energy. Infigen Energy already operates the 67-turbine Capital Wind Farm, east of Lake George. It proposes its new wind farm be operational by mid-2012.
Infigen Energy's proposed wind farm expansion comes as the company plans a $150 million joint venture with SunTech Power Australia to construct a solar farm, also adjacent to the Capital Wind Farm. The solar panels would span about 100ha. The photovoltaic array proposed would have a maximum height of 3.5m. Infigen Energy hopes to secure approval for two layouts for its new wind farm - although only one would be built.
The proposed operation would be located within the Palerang local government area, about 10km north of Bungendore and 30km east of Canberra. It would cover about 50km², although the actual area occupied by wind turbine equipment would be about 47ha. Under Infigen Energy's proposal, each generator would comprise a three bladed rotor with a diameter of up to 114m mounted on a 100m steel tower. The top of the blade sweep would be up to 157m above the ground.
The project's construction phase would take 12 to 18 months. - - Palerang Council Mayor Walter Raynolds welcomed the planned investment and said Infigen Energy would provide about $2 million to fund infrastructure - principally for roads - if the proposals went ahead. "It's a great investment to the district and all sorts of good things", he said. "... It's good for local infrastructure and local employment and local tourism".
Infigen Energy development manager Laura Dunphy said the energy company was working on a funding proposal with Palerang Council, but the details had not been finalised. Palerang Greens councillor Catherine Moore said "some people benefit from wind farms when they're privately owned". "[However] a lot of other people feel that they're right next to them, they're looking at them, they're often feeling the vibrations, but they're not getting the benefit by way of compensation", she said. "I guess in general terms I'd like to see us moving towards community owned [wind farms]. And maybe more of them and smaller".
She added, "If we had some land in Palerang... we could actually start a community-owned wind farm and get the benefit for the whole community, rather than just a few people". Ms Moore said wind farms were a move away from coal-fired power, "which is certainly a big thing for the Greens". An environmental assessment of the proposal produced by the consultancy Monteath and Powys found the wind turbines and associated infrastructure would be spread over open farming country that had been extensively cleared.
"There are minimal obstructions in the landscape as the area is predominantly used for grazing and some cropping", it found. The environmental assessment noted potential impacts on flora and fauna related to site disturbance during construction, and once operational, the possibility of "blade strike by birds or bats". "It was determined that the project is unlikely to impose a 'significant impact' on local populations of threatened species, endangered communities or their habitats... on the basis that the proposed works are limited to disturbing only a minor portion of the site", it said.
"At most, there are occasional visits by woodland birds and bats, although there is no breeding or special habitat for such species on the project site". Monteath and Powys found if the project was implemented in accordance with environmental management controls identified in the assessment, it would not "compromise environmental values at the locality, including ecological, heritage, soils and water quality". "Overall, it is considered once the mitigation measures have been applied that any adverse impacts will be of a minor nature and outweighed by the positive longer-term environmental, social and commercial benefits of the project".
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
The hills are alive with the sound of wind turbines
www.theage.com.au
December 26, 2010
REMEMBER the Orange-Bellied Parrot, the bird that briefly stopped a wind farm on Victoria's south-east coast? Well, endangered birds are so 2006 when it comes to wind farm politics. The biggest issue these days is infrasound, the low-frequency noise anti-wind farm campaigners say is generated by turbines and makes people sick.
Infrasound is the latest front in the battle over wind farms and will be investigated next year by a Senate inquiry set up by Family First's Steve Fielding. The inquiry will look at the health impacts of living near turbines and concerns over excessive noise and vibrations caused by wind farms.
Anti-wind farm campaigners say infrasound causes ''wind turbine syndrome''. Sufferers complain of nausea, dizziness and headaches. In July, the National Health and Medical Research Council reviewed the scientific evidence and found no link between wind turbines and illness.
But now one large wind farm operator has put the theory to the test on its own turbines. Pacific Hydro hired Adelaide-based acoustic consulting experts Sonus to measure the level of infrasound - created by the turbine blades moving through the air - at two farms, Cape Bridgewater in Victoria's west and Clement's Gap in the mid-north of South Australia.
As a comparison, they also measured infrasound in the Adelaide central business district and suburbs, at the beach, on a coastal cliff, inland from the coast and at a gas-fired power station. At all these places, the infrasound was not audible to the human ear. It was actually recorded at higher levels on the beach and in the Adelaide CBD Energy than it was near a wind turbine. The results for all of the places came under the internationally recognised levels a human can perceive infrasound, which is 85 - on a ''G-weighted'' scale standardised for the infrasound frequency range.
In results Pacific Hydro will send to its landholders, 67decibels (dB) was recorded 185 metres downwind of the closest operating turbine at Clement's Gap and 63dB was recorded 200 metres downwind of the closest operating turbine at Cape Bridgewater. The infrasound was a little less, 62dB, when the turbines were not turning at the Victorian site.
By comparison, 76dB were recorded for the centre of Adelaide, 75dB for the beach at Cape Bridgewater, 74dB for a gas-fired power station, 69dB for a cliff face at Cape Bridgewater, 57dB for eight kilometres inland from the Victorian coast and 51 for an Adelaide suburb.
''Infrasound is generated by a range of natural sources, including waves on a beach and against the coastline, waterfalls and wind,'' the report said. ''It is also generated by a wide range of man-made sources such as industrial processes, vehicles, air conditioning and ventilation systems and wind farms.''
The consultants, who have assessed the noise of dozens of wind farms, measured the sound with a special test chamber that stopped the results from being distorted by wind on the microphone. In response to the federal government's review of infrasound earlier this year, anti-wind farm campaigners said the review effectively said people were lying about wind turbine syndrome.
In its letter to residents who have turbines on their land, Pacific Hydro said the study was not exhaustive and is not standardised, as no standards exist in measuring infrasound.
Pacific Hydro's executive manager of government and corporate affairs, Andrew Richards, said the study would be made available and was just one contribution to the infrasound debate. He said the wind industry looked forward to presenting its case at Senate hearings next year.
December 26, 2010
REMEMBER the Orange-Bellied Parrot, the bird that briefly stopped a wind farm on Victoria's south-east coast? Well, endangered birds are so 2006 when it comes to wind farm politics. The biggest issue these days is infrasound, the low-frequency noise anti-wind farm campaigners say is generated by turbines and makes people sick.
Infrasound is the latest front in the battle over wind farms and will be investigated next year by a Senate inquiry set up by Family First's Steve Fielding. The inquiry will look at the health impacts of living near turbines and concerns over excessive noise and vibrations caused by wind farms.
Anti-wind farm campaigners say infrasound causes ''wind turbine syndrome''. Sufferers complain of nausea, dizziness and headaches. In July, the National Health and Medical Research Council reviewed the scientific evidence and found no link between wind turbines and illness.
But now one large wind farm operator has put the theory to the test on its own turbines. Pacific Hydro hired Adelaide-based acoustic consulting experts Sonus to measure the level of infrasound - created by the turbine blades moving through the air - at two farms, Cape Bridgewater in Victoria's west and Clement's Gap in the mid-north of South Australia.
As a comparison, they also measured infrasound in the Adelaide central business district and suburbs, at the beach, on a coastal cliff, inland from the coast and at a gas-fired power station. At all these places, the infrasound was not audible to the human ear. It was actually recorded at higher levels on the beach and in the Adelaide CBD Energy than it was near a wind turbine. The results for all of the places came under the internationally recognised levels a human can perceive infrasound, which is 85 - on a ''G-weighted'' scale standardised for the infrasound frequency range.
In results Pacific Hydro will send to its landholders, 67decibels (dB) was recorded 185 metres downwind of the closest operating turbine at Clement's Gap and 63dB was recorded 200 metres downwind of the closest operating turbine at Cape Bridgewater. The infrasound was a little less, 62dB, when the turbines were not turning at the Victorian site.
By comparison, 76dB were recorded for the centre of Adelaide, 75dB for the beach at Cape Bridgewater, 74dB for a gas-fired power station, 69dB for a cliff face at Cape Bridgewater, 57dB for eight kilometres inland from the Victorian coast and 51 for an Adelaide suburb.
''Infrasound is generated by a range of natural sources, including waves on a beach and against the coastline, waterfalls and wind,'' the report said. ''It is also generated by a wide range of man-made sources such as industrial processes, vehicles, air conditioning and ventilation systems and wind farms.''
The consultants, who have assessed the noise of dozens of wind farms, measured the sound with a special test chamber that stopped the results from being distorted by wind on the microphone. In response to the federal government's review of infrasound earlier this year, anti-wind farm campaigners said the review effectively said people were lying about wind turbine syndrome.
In its letter to residents who have turbines on their land, Pacific Hydro said the study was not exhaustive and is not standardised, as no standards exist in measuring infrasound.
Pacific Hydro's executive manager of government and corporate affairs, Andrew Richards, said the study would be made available and was just one contribution to the infrasound debate. He said the wind industry looked forward to presenting its case at Senate hearings next year.
Setback with green energy
Herald Sun
Monday 27/12/2010 Page: 33
The federal government's scrapping of the Green Start program is a blow for household energy efficiency. With its predecessor, the Green Loans program, and the home insulation scheme, the Government now has a record of great environmental ideas executed poorly. With electricity bills rising steeply, the scrapping of Green Start means people on low incomes will be stuck paying a lot more for their power, contributing to financial hardship.
It is now important the Government explains how it is to help people improve household energy and water efficiency. While some state governments are considering extending power bill concessions, the best long-term solution is to help people install environmental measures such as energy-efficient lighting and appliances in their homes.
Damien Moyse, Alternative Technology Association, Melbourne
Monday 27/12/2010 Page: 33
The federal government's scrapping of the Green Start program is a blow for household energy efficiency. With its predecessor, the Green Loans program, and the home insulation scheme, the Government now has a record of great environmental ideas executed poorly. With electricity bills rising steeply, the scrapping of Green Start means people on low incomes will be stuck paying a lot more for their power, contributing to financial hardship.
It is now important the Government explains how it is to help people improve household energy and water efficiency. While some state governments are considering extending power bill concessions, the best long-term solution is to help people install environmental measures such as energy-efficient lighting and appliances in their homes.
Damien Moyse, Alternative Technology Association, Melbourne
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Survey blows off wind farm syndrome
Adelaide Advertiser
27 December 2010 Page: 13
AN Adelaide-based acoustic firm has seemingly debunked the theory that wind farms can make you sick. wind farm giant Pacific Hydro says a survey of infrasound levels at three of its farms, in Adelaide's CBD Energy and various sites in SA and Victoria, proves "wind turbine syndrome" is a myth. Anti-wind farm campaigners say the syndrome is caused by infrasound and produces symptoms including dizziness, headaches and nausea.
The study, conducted by acoustic experts Sonus, found the highest readings of infrasound in the CBD Energy, followed by Cape Bridgewater beach. Infrasound measurements at Pacific Hydro's Clement's Gap and Cape Bridgewater wind farms were significantly lower.
Pacific Hydro's general manager Australia Lane Crockett admitted the study wasn't exhaustive, but said it backed up a Federal Government review that also concluded wind farms didn't make people sick. "There's infrasound all around us and the infrasound produced at wind farms is not even as high as... you will find standing on the street in the middle of a city", he said.
27 December 2010 Page: 13
AN Adelaide-based acoustic firm has seemingly debunked the theory that wind farms can make you sick. wind farm giant Pacific Hydro says a survey of infrasound levels at three of its farms, in Adelaide's CBD Energy and various sites in SA and Victoria, proves "wind turbine syndrome" is a myth. Anti-wind farm campaigners say the syndrome is caused by infrasound and produces symptoms including dizziness, headaches and nausea.
The study, conducted by acoustic experts Sonus, found the highest readings of infrasound in the CBD Energy, followed by Cape Bridgewater beach. Infrasound measurements at Pacific Hydro's Clement's Gap and Cape Bridgewater wind farms were significantly lower.
Pacific Hydro's general manager Australia Lane Crockett admitted the study wasn't exhaustive, but said it backed up a Federal Government review that also concluded wind farms didn't make people sick. "There's infrasound all around us and the infrasound produced at wind farms is not even as high as... you will find standing on the street in the middle of a city", he said.
Clean energy powers up in ACT region
Canberra Times
23 December 2010, Page: 5
From mini-hydro power stations on our water storages to $100 million wind turbines, the ACT region is making a growing contribution to the nation's clean energy industry. The latest modelling predicts more than 55,000 jobs are expected to be created in renewable energy across Australia by 2020, many in regional areas. The Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, which commissioned a new $30 million, 14MW power station near Talbingo this year, is still a major employer and producer of renewable energy.
While Canberra's hydro-power capacity is tiny, it is growing. Two existing stations, at the Mt Stromlo and Googong water treatment plants, generated little during the drought, but Stromlo can generate around 2000-3000MWh. As part of the Murrumbidgee to Googong water transfer project, ACTEW is planning a mini-hydro power plant at Burra Creek to help offset greenhouse gases from the pipeline project.
The Clean Energy Australia Report 2010 says more solar power was installed on rooftops across the country between January and October this year than for the entire previous decade. Greater affordability of solar power meant the technology was fast becoming "the Hills Hoist of the 21st century", according to the Energy Council of Australia's chief executive Matthew Warren. In the past year, wind power generated almost 5000GWh of electricity enough to power more than 700,000 homes.
Joining Australia's 52 operating wind farms next year will be Union Fenosa's project at Crookwell, near Goulburn, which has approval for 46 turbines and is proposing another farm of between 25 and 35 turbines. Bioenergy generates about 1% of Australia's energy. Two-thirds comes from bagasse fibre residue combustion in the sugar industry, while the second largest contributor is landfill gas.
At the former Woodlawn mine near Tarago, Veolia Environmental Services commissioned a 1.1MW landfill gas power plant. The gas is captured from a network of pipes through the waste, and output is expected to increase when Veolia expands annual waste from 500,000 tonnes a year to 1.13 million tonnes a year.
State of play:
23 December 2010, Page: 5
From mini-hydro power stations on our water storages to $100 million wind turbines, the ACT region is making a growing contribution to the nation's clean energy industry. The latest modelling predicts more than 55,000 jobs are expected to be created in renewable energy across Australia by 2020, many in regional areas. The Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, which commissioned a new $30 million, 14MW power station near Talbingo this year, is still a major employer and producer of renewable energy.
While Canberra's hydro-power capacity is tiny, it is growing. Two existing stations, at the Mt Stromlo and Googong water treatment plants, generated little during the drought, but Stromlo can generate around 2000-3000MWh. As part of the Murrumbidgee to Googong water transfer project, ACTEW is planning a mini-hydro power plant at Burra Creek to help offset greenhouse gases from the pipeline project.
The Clean Energy Australia Report 2010 says more solar power was installed on rooftops across the country between January and October this year than for the entire previous decade. Greater affordability of solar power meant the technology was fast becoming "the Hills Hoist of the 21st century", according to the Energy Council of Australia's chief executive Matthew Warren. In the past year, wind power generated almost 5000GWh of electricity enough to power more than 700,000 homes.
Joining Australia's 52 operating wind farms next year will be Union Fenosa's project at Crookwell, near Goulburn, which has approval for 46 turbines and is proposing another farm of between 25 and 35 turbines. Bioenergy generates about 1% of Australia's energy. Two-thirds comes from bagasse fibre residue combustion in the sugar industry, while the second largest contributor is landfill gas.
At the former Woodlawn mine near Tarago, Veolia Environmental Services commissioned a 1.1MW landfill gas power plant. The gas is captured from a network of pipes through the waste, and output is expected to increase when Veolia expands annual waste from 500,000 tonnes a year to 1.13 million tonnes a year.
State of play:
- 8.67% of Australia's electricity was generated by renewable sources such as solar and wind in the last year, a total of 21,751GW hours (equivalent of over three million Australian households)
- Good rainfall in key catchments led to a 15% increase in hydro electricity from previous years
- ACT clean energy projects are bioenergy, hydro and solar PV
- ACT capacity: 10MW, or 0.09 per cent of Australia's renewable installed capacity
- ACT feed-in tariff: 45.7 cents kW (gross)
- ACT policy support for clean energy: Target of zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2060; home energy audit program; expanded feed-in tariff scheme for household, medium and large-scale solar.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Subsidies put solar panels top
Adelaide Advertiser
Wednesday 22/12/2010 Page: 17
THERE were more than 100,000 solar power systems installed across Australia last year, which is more than in the previous decade combined. Industry group Clean Energy Australia said yesterday rooftop solar photovoltaic systems were becoming the "Hills Hoist" of the 21st century, driven by generous state and federal government subsidies. However, growth in industrial-scale renewable power was "modest" in the year to the end of October, because of policy uncertainty about how the industry would be subsidised.
The group's 2010 report also predicted more than 55,000 jobs would be created in the industry by 2020, up from about 8085 now. About 7817 jobs were expected to be based in SA by 2020, up from 751 now. The increased employment and projected investment of more than $20 billion is being driven by the Federal Government's target to have 20% of the nation's power supplied by renewal sources by 2020.
"Much of this growth will be in regional Australia, creating employment opportunities and an economic boost for towns and communities", the report says. "In 2009-10 alone, clean energy in Australia generated just under $1.8 billion in investment".
The proportion of Australia's electricity production generated by renewable means rose significantly to 8.67%. However, this increase was largely driven by a 15% rise in hydroelectric generation from good rainfall. Growth in industrial power generation was just 210MWs, down from 993MW the previous year. "Policy and investment uncertainty played a major role in the drop in new projects in 2010 compared with the year before", the report says.
"The success of household renewable energy such as solar power and solar hot water in 2009 led to an oversupply of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). "With a glut of RECs in the market, the price remained low. For large-scale projects this REC price is critical". South Australia accounts for 9% of the nation's installed renewable capacity at 966MW. The state renewable energy target is to have 33% of SA's power generated by renewables by 2020.
Wednesday 22/12/2010 Page: 17
THERE were more than 100,000 solar power systems installed across Australia last year, which is more than in the previous decade combined. Industry group Clean Energy Australia said yesterday rooftop solar photovoltaic systems were becoming the "Hills Hoist" of the 21st century, driven by generous state and federal government subsidies. However, growth in industrial-scale renewable power was "modest" in the year to the end of October, because of policy uncertainty about how the industry would be subsidised.
The group's 2010 report also predicted more than 55,000 jobs would be created in the industry by 2020, up from about 8085 now. About 7817 jobs were expected to be based in SA by 2020, up from 751 now. The increased employment and projected investment of more than $20 billion is being driven by the Federal Government's target to have 20% of the nation's power supplied by renewal sources by 2020.
"Much of this growth will be in regional Australia, creating employment opportunities and an economic boost for towns and communities", the report says. "In 2009-10 alone, clean energy in Australia generated just under $1.8 billion in investment".
The proportion of Australia's electricity production generated by renewable means rose significantly to 8.67%. However, this increase was largely driven by a 15% rise in hydroelectric generation from good rainfall. Growth in industrial power generation was just 210MWs, down from 993MW the previous year. "Policy and investment uncertainty played a major role in the drop in new projects in 2010 compared with the year before", the report says.
"The success of household renewable energy such as solar power and solar hot water in 2009 led to an oversupply of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). "With a glut of RECs in the market, the price remained low. For large-scale projects this REC price is critical". South Australia accounts for 9% of the nation's installed renewable capacity at 966MW. The state renewable energy target is to have 33% of SA's power generated by renewables by 2020.
Solar becoming the new Aussie Hills Hoist
Clean Energy Australia 2010 report
21 Dec 2010
There was more solar power installed on rooftops between January and October this year than for the entire previous decade, according to the Clean Energy Australia 2010 report released today.
The increased affordability of solar power in Australia meant the technology was fast becoming "the Hills Hoist of the 21st century", according to Matthew Warren, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, Australia's peak body for more than 450 renewable energy companies.
There were more than 100,000 solar power systems installed during 2010, compared with a total of 81,232 from 2000-2009. "Over the past year more than 100,000 households have made a significant personal investment to take individual action on climate change and protect themselves against rising electricity prices," Mr Warren said.
The report also includes new modelling that predicts more than 55,000 jobs are expected to be created in renewable energy by 2020, many in regional areas. The Clean Energy Australia Report provides a snapshot of the renewable energy industry over 2010. Other trends include:
Mr Warren said continued policy uncertainty in the first half of 2010 had slowed development of a number of industrial scale clean energy projects. "The enhanced renewable energy target starts on New Year's Day. With some major projects in the pipeline such as the Macarthur wind farm we are looking forward to continued growth of clean energy in 2011," he said.
Click here to download the report or visit www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au.
21 Dec 2010
There was more solar power installed on rooftops between January and October this year than for the entire previous decade, according to the Clean Energy Australia 2010 report released today.The increased affordability of solar power in Australia meant the technology was fast becoming "the Hills Hoist of the 21st century", according to Matthew Warren, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, Australia's peak body for more than 450 renewable energy companies.
There were more than 100,000 solar power systems installed during 2010, compared with a total of 81,232 from 2000-2009. "Over the past year more than 100,000 households have made a significant personal investment to take individual action on climate change and protect themselves against rising electricity prices," Mr Warren said.
The report also includes new modelling that predicts more than 55,000 jobs are expected to be created in renewable energy by 2020, many in regional areas. The Clean Energy Australia Report provides a snapshot of the renewable energy industry over 2010. Other trends include:
- 8.67% of Australia's electricity was generated by renewable sources such as solar and wind in the last year, a total of 21,751GW hours. This was the equivalent of over three million Australian households.
- Good rainfall in key catchments led to a 15% increase in hydro electricity from previous years.
- According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the renewable energy sector experienced just under $1.8 billion in new financial investment during the 2009-2010 financial year.
- There was a total of 209MWs of large scale clean energy projects added to the grid between January and October this year.
Mr Warren said continued policy uncertainty in the first half of 2010 had slowed development of a number of industrial scale clean energy projects. "The enhanced renewable energy target starts on New Year's Day. With some major projects in the pipeline such as the Macarthur wind farm we are looking forward to continued growth of clean energy in 2011," he said.
Click here to download the report or visit www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au.
Energy target gives us vital impetus
Age
Tuesday 21/12/2010 Page: 12
IN PUSHING for the removal of industry development policies such as the 20% renewable energy target, Heather Ridout seems to believe in the silver bullet theory of addressing climate change ("Labor energy policy costly, inefficient: Ridout", The Age, 20/12). If groups like the Australian Industry Group have their way, an emissions trading scheme will not provide a sufficient price signal to change investment in the stationary energy sector for at least 15 years.
With more than 40% of Australian greenhouse gas emissions coming from producing energy, urgent action is required. Policies such as the renewable energy target play a significant role because they divert investment away from dirty forms of energy to clean sources. By supporting the deployment of clean energy technologies, we create new industries in regional Australia, stimulate investment and diversify our energy generation mix.
These benefits do not have a big price tag, as some like to suggest. Over the next 10 years the large-scale portion of the 20% renewable energy target will add less than 0.75% a year to most consumers' energy bills. This is small compared with recent cost increases associated with building and maintaining distribution and transmission networks.
Tuesday 21/12/2010 Page: 12
IN PUSHING for the removal of industry development policies such as the 20% renewable energy target, Heather Ridout seems to believe in the silver bullet theory of addressing climate change ("Labor energy policy costly, inefficient: Ridout", The Age, 20/12). If groups like the Australian Industry Group have their way, an emissions trading scheme will not provide a sufficient price signal to change investment in the stationary energy sector for at least 15 years.
With more than 40% of Australian greenhouse gas emissions coming from producing energy, urgent action is required. Policies such as the renewable energy target play a significant role because they divert investment away from dirty forms of energy to clean sources. By supporting the deployment of clean energy technologies, we create new industries in regional Australia, stimulate investment and diversify our energy generation mix.
These benefits do not have a big price tag, as some like to suggest. Over the next 10 years the large-scale portion of the 20% renewable energy target will add less than 0.75% a year to most consumers' energy bills. This is small compared with recent cost increases associated with building and maintaining distribution and transmission networks.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Energy efficiency zapped
Sun Herald
Sunday 19/12/2010 Page: 18
ELECTRICITY retailers in NSW have been urged not to spend the $17.9 billion they had set aside for new substations, wires and power poles and to concentrate instead on making customers more energy efficient. If the spending goes ahead, household power bills could rise by as much as 35%, the NSW Greens have predicted. In addition, Greens MP John Kaye said new substations and powerlines could affect people's health, as a result of electromagnetic radiation, and could damage environmentally sensitive sites.
The call to curb spending has come in the same week that the state government sold the retail activities of EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy and Country Energy to private enterprise. The energy infrastructure, or network, remains in public hands. The Australian Energy Regulator rubber-stamped the Keneally government's decision to give $17.9 billion to the three energy companies and transmission company Trans Grid to fix ailing infrastructure in September.
On Thursday, federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson published a report stating that up to $129 billion in investment was needed over the next 20 years to update the national power grid. But Mr Kaye said private power retailers would not be as willing to urge customers to engage in energy management activities such as using energy-efficient lighting and appliances, off-peak power and installing solar panels.
"The ability to manage the demand for electricity more sensibly is one of the alternatives to building all this new infrastructure", Mr Kaye said. "The problem is that when you privatise these corporations, they become less likely to be interested in energy efficiency. They want to sell more, they don't want to sell less. These companies will simply pass the power distribution costs to the householder".
Mr Kaye said EnergyAustralia was already planning a $50 million substation at Empire Bay on the central coast that threatened a sensitive wildlife area. He said Integral Energy wanted to install high-voltage transformers and cables, which emit harmful electromagnetic fields, next to houses, a TAFE college and a childcare centre at Granville. There were also substation plans for residential streets in Bondi and Ryde.
A spokesman for NSW Energy Minister Paul Lynch said the government had no say on when projects were completed or how the grid operated. Households are already coping with electricity price rises after the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal set future rises of 20 to 42% in the three years to June 2013 an additional $240 to $600 on the average bill.
Why your electricity bill will go up:
Sunday 19/12/2010 Page: 18
ELECTRICITY retailers in NSW have been urged not to spend the $17.9 billion they had set aside for new substations, wires and power poles and to concentrate instead on making customers more energy efficient. If the spending goes ahead, household power bills could rise by as much as 35%, the NSW Greens have predicted. In addition, Greens MP John Kaye said new substations and powerlines could affect people's health, as a result of electromagnetic radiation, and could damage environmentally sensitive sites.
The call to curb spending has come in the same week that the state government sold the retail activities of EnergyAustralia, Integral Energy and Country Energy to private enterprise. The energy infrastructure, or network, remains in public hands. The Australian Energy Regulator rubber-stamped the Keneally government's decision to give $17.9 billion to the three energy companies and transmission company Trans Grid to fix ailing infrastructure in September.
On Thursday, federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson published a report stating that up to $129 billion in investment was needed over the next 20 years to update the national power grid. But Mr Kaye said private power retailers would not be as willing to urge customers to engage in energy management activities such as using energy-efficient lighting and appliances, off-peak power and installing solar panels.
"The ability to manage the demand for electricity more sensibly is one of the alternatives to building all this new infrastructure", Mr Kaye said. "The problem is that when you privatise these corporations, they become less likely to be interested in energy efficiency. They want to sell more, they don't want to sell less. These companies will simply pass the power distribution costs to the householder".
Mr Kaye said EnergyAustralia was already planning a $50 million substation at Empire Bay on the central coast that threatened a sensitive wildlife area. He said Integral Energy wanted to install high-voltage transformers and cables, which emit harmful electromagnetic fields, next to houses, a TAFE college and a childcare centre at Granville. There were also substation plans for residential streets in Bondi and Ryde.
A spokesman for NSW Energy Minister Paul Lynch said the government had no say on when projects were completed or how the grid operated. Households are already coping with electricity price rises after the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal set future rises of 20 to 42% in the three years to June 2013 an additional $240 to $600 on the average bill.
Why your electricity bill will go up:
- Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said increases were "unavoidable" to guarantee supply after low infrastructure spending by the states.
- Over the next 20 years, $130 billion is needed to update power grid to meet increasing demand and comply with climate change policies.
- NSW electricity retailers are to spend $17.9 billion on infrastructure such as substations and power lines, adding up to 35% to bills
- The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal is allowing 20 to 42% price rises over three years, adding $240 to $600 to bills.
- Funding needed for "green energy" initiatives: solar and wind power
- Carbon tax could lift prices 46 to 64% over three years.
US warns of rare earths risk
Australian
Friday 17/12/2010 Page: 23
Supplies of rare earth materials, mined mostly in China and used in a handful of clean-energy products, could be cut off or disrupted in future years, according to the US Energy Department.
Five rare earth materials that are used to build electric vehicles, energy efficient lighting, solar panels and wind turbines "are at risk of supply disruptions", David Sandalow, assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the US Energy Department, said yesterday at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Concern over the supply of these materials is surfacing at the same time the US is encouraging the development of clean energy technologies as a way to reduce the use of fossil fuels. China currently produces more than 95% of these rare-earth materials, presenting a scenario in which much of the world's clean technology makers rely on the country for valuable resources. "China has said it intends to be a reliable supplier", Mr Sandalow said.
However, the US should try to diversify global supply chains and develop substitutes "so that we are not reliant on any particular input", Mr Sandalow cautioned. Non-government analysts believe China could reduce exports of rare-earth materials to countries that rely on them.
China's willingness to supply these materials constitutes a "fragile relationship", said Jim Hedrick of Hedrick Consultants. China intends to raise tariffs on some rare-earth exports starting next year, the Associated Press reported the state media as saying yesterday. China's Ministry of Finance did not say which rare earths would be affected, the AP reported.
A material known as dysprosium, used in magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles, is particularly important to the clean technology sector. According to the Energy Department, supplies of dysprosium are also among the most threatened. In addition to being the largest producer of rare earth materials, China was currently the largest consumer, said Clint Cox, founder of Anchor House, a firm that specialises in rare earth elements.
Companies operating in China are the largest consumers of the materials. Colorado-based Molycorp announced earlier this week that it had received environmental permits to begin construction of a new rare earth manufacturing facility in Mountain Pass, California.
Friday 17/12/2010 Page: 23
Supplies of rare earth materials, mined mostly in China and used in a handful of clean-energy products, could be cut off or disrupted in future years, according to the US Energy Department.
Five rare earth materials that are used to build electric vehicles, energy efficient lighting, solar panels and wind turbines "are at risk of supply disruptions", David Sandalow, assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the US Energy Department, said yesterday at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Concern over the supply of these materials is surfacing at the same time the US is encouraging the development of clean energy technologies as a way to reduce the use of fossil fuels. China currently produces more than 95% of these rare-earth materials, presenting a scenario in which much of the world's clean technology makers rely on the country for valuable resources. "China has said it intends to be a reliable supplier", Mr Sandalow said.
However, the US should try to diversify global supply chains and develop substitutes "so that we are not reliant on any particular input", Mr Sandalow cautioned. Non-government analysts believe China could reduce exports of rare-earth materials to countries that rely on them.
China's willingness to supply these materials constitutes a "fragile relationship", said Jim Hedrick of Hedrick Consultants. China intends to raise tariffs on some rare-earth exports starting next year, the Associated Press reported the state media as saying yesterday. China's Ministry of Finance did not say which rare earths would be affected, the AP reported.
A material known as dysprosium, used in magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles, is particularly important to the clean technology sector. According to the Energy Department, supplies of dysprosium are also among the most threatened. In addition to being the largest producer of rare earth materials, China was currently the largest consumer, said Clint Cox, founder of Anchor House, a firm that specialises in rare earth elements.
Companies operating in China are the largest consumers of the materials. Colorado-based Molycorp announced earlier this week that it had received environmental permits to begin construction of a new rare earth manufacturing facility in Mountain Pass, California.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
$100,000 for SA solar tracker
Adelaide Advertiser
Thursday 16/12/2010 Page: 52
Solar Shop Australia and Hydragate will use a $100,000 grant to install a locally manufactured solar tracking system by the end of next year. The companies recently won the State Government grant to develop the system. Hydragate will manufacture the system and Solar Shop will provide photovoltaic research and development expertise.
Solar Shop corporate development chief Chris Stewart said the local product would be cheaper than other tracking systems in the market and would have fewer moving parts. "It's all being made here with the tracker itself offering 40% more efficiency than roof solar panels", Mr Stewart said. The technology is targeted at the commercial market.
Competitor ZEN recently installed a $450,000-plus, 30kW solar tracking farm at Monarto Zoo with the help of a State Government grant. Its system is jointly developed and manufactured with European based company Mecasolar. "As a private company that's installed Australia's largest solar tracking system only months ago, launched by Premier Mike Rann, we are disappointed to have not had a chance to tender on this grant", a spokesperson for ZEN said.
The grant was among measures Mr Rann announced at the Cancun climate change conference, including opening up 400,000sq km of crown land for solar and wind farms.
Thursday 16/12/2010 Page: 52
Solar Shop Australia and Hydragate will use a $100,000 grant to install a locally manufactured solar tracking system by the end of next year. The companies recently won the State Government grant to develop the system. Hydragate will manufacture the system and Solar Shop will provide photovoltaic research and development expertise.
Solar Shop corporate development chief Chris Stewart said the local product would be cheaper than other tracking systems in the market and would have fewer moving parts. "It's all being made here with the tracker itself offering 40% more efficiency than roof solar panels", Mr Stewart said. The technology is targeted at the commercial market.
Competitor ZEN recently installed a $450,000-plus, 30kW solar tracking farm at Monarto Zoo with the help of a State Government grant. Its system is jointly developed and manufactured with European based company Mecasolar. "As a private company that's installed Australia's largest solar tracking system only months ago, launched by Premier Mike Rann, we are disappointed to have not had a chance to tender on this grant", a spokesperson for ZEN said.
The grant was among measures Mr Rann announced at the Cancun climate change conference, including opening up 400,000sq km of crown land for solar and wind farms.
Everyone will pay for better grid
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 15/12/2010 Page: 9
UP TO $130 billion of investment in the national power grid is needed to cope with an expected surge in electricity demand, placing further pressure on household electricity bills.
In a network development plan to be made public today by the Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, the Australian Energy Market Operator the independent operator of the national electricity market says demand is likely to rise between 30 and 70% over the next two decades, depending on economic and population growth. The investment is needed to cope with increasing demand, ageing infrastructure and the transition to a low carbon environment.
But the market operator's chief executive, Matt Zema, said only "a very small amount", about $4 billion, of capital investment had been committed nationwide so far, though he added that electricity generators had never previously failed to deliver the required investment to meet demand. "It's the uncertainty associated with a carbon price. The industry is not willing to make any great decisions about investment and generation".
The high investment cost is likely to fuel higher wholesale electricity prices, which typically make up 30 to 40% of what the consumer pays. The introduction of a carbon price is already expected to at least double wholesale prices. If economic growth is strong and the carbon price is high, the market operator said wholesale prices could increase four-fold over the next 20 years.
The operator modelled a number of scenarios, factoring in economic and population growth and the impact of a carbon price. Even in the scenario of lowest economic growth, it said $40 billion of investment was required. The prevailing low-carbon environment means gas and renewables will provide most of the new electricity generation in the next decade.
The market operator said this would increase demand for gas five-fold by 2030, but that there would be sufficient gas reserves to meet both domestic and export demand, even though production in Victoria and South Australia was expected to decline.
Wednesday 15/12/2010 Page: 9
UP TO $130 billion of investment in the national power grid is needed to cope with an expected surge in electricity demand, placing further pressure on household electricity bills.
In a network development plan to be made public today by the Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, the Australian Energy Market Operator the independent operator of the national electricity market says demand is likely to rise between 30 and 70% over the next two decades, depending on economic and population growth. The investment is needed to cope with increasing demand, ageing infrastructure and the transition to a low carbon environment.
But the market operator's chief executive, Matt Zema, said only "a very small amount", about $4 billion, of capital investment had been committed nationwide so far, though he added that electricity generators had never previously failed to deliver the required investment to meet demand. "It's the uncertainty associated with a carbon price. The industry is not willing to make any great decisions about investment and generation".
The high investment cost is likely to fuel higher wholesale electricity prices, which typically make up 30 to 40% of what the consumer pays. The introduction of a carbon price is already expected to at least double wholesale prices. If economic growth is strong and the carbon price is high, the market operator said wholesale prices could increase four-fold over the next 20 years.
The operator modelled a number of scenarios, factoring in economic and population growth and the impact of a carbon price. Even in the scenario of lowest economic growth, it said $40 billion of investment was required. The prevailing low-carbon environment means gas and renewables will provide most of the new electricity generation in the next decade.
The market operator said this would increase demand for gas five-fold by 2030, but that there would be sufficient gas reserves to meet both domestic and export demand, even though production in Victoria and South Australia was expected to decline.
Monday, 27 December 2010
RedFlow debuts on market
Courier Mail
Tuesday 14/12/2010 Page: 27
ENERGY storage company RedFlow, which is ploughing funds into raising its production of zinc-bromine battery systems by more than 10 times, makes its sharemarket debut today. The Brisbane-based company is commercialising electricity storage systems and last month raised $17.5 million through a fully underwritten initial public offering of shares priced at $1.00 each.
Its systems range from small to large scale, enabling customers to supplement their electricity supply, including storing power from renewable energy generators such as wind turbines and solar panels. RedFlow says the global energy storage market for grid-connected applications by electricity utilities and for off-grid applications for use in rural locations is expected to grow rapidly in the next 10 years.
RedFlow chief executive Phil Hutchings said the company also has just shipped a 5-kW zinc-bromine battery system to the UK which will be installed this month.
Tuesday 14/12/2010 Page: 27
ENERGY storage company RedFlow, which is ploughing funds into raising its production of zinc-bromine battery systems by more than 10 times, makes its sharemarket debut today. The Brisbane-based company is commercialising electricity storage systems and last month raised $17.5 million through a fully underwritten initial public offering of shares priced at $1.00 each.
Its systems range from small to large scale, enabling customers to supplement their electricity supply, including storing power from renewable energy generators such as wind turbines and solar panels. RedFlow says the global energy storage market for grid-connected applications by electricity utilities and for off-grid applications for use in rural locations is expected to grow rapidly in the next 10 years.
RedFlow chief executive Phil Hutchings said the company also has just shipped a 5-kW zinc-bromine battery system to the UK which will be installed this month.
Meridian in power play for Australia
Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Monday 13/12/2010 Page: 20
New Zealand renewable electricity company Meridian Energy is looking to expand its portfolio of assets in Australia, where it already has a presence through Meridian Energy EnergyAustralia. The subsidiary has a 50% stake in the Victorian Macarthur wind farm joint venture with AGL Energy, and owns the Mount Millar wind farm, bought from Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund for $191 million. Ben Burge, the new chief executive of Meridian Energy EnergyAustralia who comes from a previous role at IBM, says the business is looking for opportunities to buy and build renewable energy projects, and 'may not be restricted to wind only.'
Monday 13/12/2010 Page: 20
New Zealand renewable electricity company Meridian Energy is looking to expand its portfolio of assets in Australia, where it already has a presence through Meridian Energy EnergyAustralia. The subsidiary has a 50% stake in the Victorian Macarthur wind farm joint venture with AGL Energy, and owns the Mount Millar wind farm, bought from Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund for $191 million. Ben Burge, the new chief executive of Meridian Energy EnergyAustralia who comes from a previous role at IBM, says the business is looking for opportunities to buy and build renewable energy projects, and 'may not be restricted to wind only.'
Focus on renewable energy integration
Adelaide Advertiser
Saturday 11/12/2010 Page: 91
A CREATIVE combination of government regulations and more advanced technology will be needed to integrate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind into electricity grids worldwide on a more significant scale, says a panel of international experts. Hundreds of engineers, researchers and policymakers from abroad are gathering this week in New Mexico to talk about the future of renewable and distributed energy systems.
The mission of those at the conference is to find more affordable and efficient ways to mesh large-scale solar and wind farms and smaller distributed generation systems, which include the sea of solar panels popping up on residential rooftops around the world, into grids dependent on consistent sources of power.
They're also focusing on ways policymakers can develop regulatory roadmaps for encouraging more renewable energy. "It's all got to come together", says Charles Hanley, the manager of Sandia's Photovoltaics and Grid Integration Department. Mr Hanley referred to an idea he heard earlier in the week, that researchers aren't looking for a silver bullet, but rather "silver buckshot".
"We want to address everything that is necessary to make up a solid portfolio - that's on the regulation side, the R&D side and the technology and market acceptance side", he says. "There's got to be a number of pieces that add up to an overall solution to come away with an optimised smart grid that has a high penetration of renewable and distributed sources".
Nearly 30 states have developed renewable energy portfolio standards that require electric utilities to get as much as 25% of their power from renewable sources within the next decade, but experts at the conference say Europe leads the way when it comes to its goal of making renewables a majority source of power.
While the European Union has set targets of 20% by 2020, New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks notes the United States is far from adopting a national renewable portfolio standard. "What's unfortunate is in our country energy policy has been politicised in a very destructive way", he said. "It's mostly been focused on climate change". Mr Marks says large systems for harnessing solar and wind power were only talked about in laboratories a couple of decades ago; now it is being done around the world every day.
Saturday 11/12/2010 Page: 91
A CREATIVE combination of government regulations and more advanced technology will be needed to integrate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind into electricity grids worldwide on a more significant scale, says a panel of international experts. Hundreds of engineers, researchers and policymakers from abroad are gathering this week in New Mexico to talk about the future of renewable and distributed energy systems.
The mission of those at the conference is to find more affordable and efficient ways to mesh large-scale solar and wind farms and smaller distributed generation systems, which include the sea of solar panels popping up on residential rooftops around the world, into grids dependent on consistent sources of power.
They're also focusing on ways policymakers can develop regulatory roadmaps for encouraging more renewable energy. "It's all got to come together", says Charles Hanley, the manager of Sandia's Photovoltaics and Grid Integration Department. Mr Hanley referred to an idea he heard earlier in the week, that researchers aren't looking for a silver bullet, but rather "silver buckshot".
"We want to address everything that is necessary to make up a solid portfolio - that's on the regulation side, the R&D side and the technology and market acceptance side", he says. "There's got to be a number of pieces that add up to an overall solution to come away with an optimised smart grid that has a high penetration of renewable and distributed sources".
Nearly 30 states have developed renewable energy portfolio standards that require electric utilities to get as much as 25% of their power from renewable sources within the next decade, but experts at the conference say Europe leads the way when it comes to its goal of making renewables a majority source of power.
While the European Union has set targets of 20% by 2020, New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks notes the United States is far from adopting a national renewable portfolio standard. "What's unfortunate is in our country energy policy has been politicised in a very destructive way", he said. "It's mostly been focused on climate change". Mr Marks says large systems for harnessing solar and wind power were only talked about in laboratories a couple of decades ago; now it is being done around the world every day.
Cracks in carbon capture schemes
Courier Mail
Friday 10/12/2010 Page: 80
There is growing opposition in Australia and overseas to projects proposing to store carbon underground
FOR years it has been billed as a way for the world to keep generating electricity from fossil fuels without burning up the planet. But in contrast to solar power, which has been fondly embraced even in people's own homes, plans to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to slash greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power stations have proven controversial. So much so that some projects have now been ditched.
Scientists say developed nations' emissions need to start falling by 2015 and be almost zero in about 30 years to have a strong chance of holding global warming to 2C the target most countries, including Australia, have adopted. Emissions from coal-fired power stations are the major contributor to climate change and gas-fired generators are also large emitters. CCS is intended to catch 65% to 90% of plant emissions, turn the CO₂ into liquid and pump it underground to be stored forever, with no leakage.
Its complexity and cost mean it has been in experimental mode for years and no power station with capture and storage at major scale exists anywhere. CCS needs to get a move on given the deadline looming for emission cuts and because it faces a challenge from emission-free solar and wind power stations that are now arriving in force in the global energy market. A 1000-MW solar power station starts construction this month in the US and an 845-MW wind farm has also been approved there.
By contrast, in Germany, which is home to the world's most advanced carbon-capture pilot plants, utilities RWE and Vattenfall had to shelve plans to store carbon from two leading projects due to community concerns, including fears over water pollution. And protests by residents and the local council last month caused the Dutch Government to cancel a plan by Shell to store carbon underground at Barendrecht. "They're saying what if the CO₂ has heavy metals and gets into groundwater, even in a thousand year's time.
And saying, we know it's going to be stored a kilometre underground, but what if the strata has a crack and the stuff can leak (upward) until its into our groundwater", said Robin Batterham, Australia's former chief scientist who was recently in Germany to advise on CCS. Similar concerns are surfacing here, where developers are now working to pin down sites for CCS plants and storage.
The Queensland Government has released 13 land areas for industry to explore for storage in the Blackall-Tambo area near Emerald, the Roma-Wandoan area and the Chin area, covering the Surat, Bowen, Galilee and Adavale basins. Queensland farmers' organisation AgForce says there are concerns that planned underground carbon storage in Queensland's Surat Basin and other basins may harm the Great Artesian Basin or the Murray-Darling Basin.
"The Surat Basin is over the GAB and is interrelated with the Murray-Darling Basin, and if we start having significant GAB impacts, then will the last one on the Darling Downs please turn the lights off. It's as simple as that", AgForce spokesman Drew Wagner said. "The reality is we do not know what impacts (CCS) may have on underground water. We don't know what impacts it may have on inter-aquifer relationships and we also may find it's going to have impacts in terms of tying up prime agricultural land".
NSW Farmers' Association president Charles Armstrong last week said CCS could leave the public with a dangerous, expensive legacy. Swiss miner Xstrata's unit CTSCo has been shortlisted as a preferred tenderer for carbon storage in Queensland. CTSCo would look to transport and pump into the Surat Basin up to 2.5 million metric tons of liquid CO₂ a year from a Wandoan coal-fired power plant that would be built by Stanwell Corporation and General Electric, with government funding.
CTSCo will start its community engagement process, or detailed talks with local communities, once it receives permit conditions likely next month or in February and has decided on its specific preferred sites. A 2009 study for the Queensland Government said the Surat Basin was a potentially prime target for high volume carbon storage but said more study was needed into links between water bodies and that well field location "is critical to mitigation of detrimental contamination effects".
"The cost of remediation strategies for damage to existing infrastructure resulting from CO₂ contamination could be prohibitive. Environmental impacts could be severe but remain speculative and cannot be quantified with currently available information", the study said. But it said several factors "contribute to a high level of confidence in an adequate safety margin".
CTSCo project director Alan du Mee said the Wandoan project would store CO₂ up to 2km underground in sites that are generally isolated from potable water. "The first stage is drilling holes to test rock properties and water quality. Later comes CO₂ testing, pumping it down and seeing what happens.
In each of those stages you're monitoring if there is any interaction with water supplies", Mr du Mee said. "(It's a) development project so that we all understand what does this take, what does it do, is it going to work, can we do something with CO₂. It's all 'gently, gently'. In the end, it's the communities and public at large that are going to decide whether this thing's going anywhere."
Friday 10/12/2010 Page: 80
There is growing opposition in Australia and overseas to projects proposing to store carbon underground
FOR years it has been billed as a way for the world to keep generating electricity from fossil fuels without burning up the planet. But in contrast to solar power, which has been fondly embraced even in people's own homes, plans to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to slash greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power stations have proven controversial. So much so that some projects have now been ditched.
Scientists say developed nations' emissions need to start falling by 2015 and be almost zero in about 30 years to have a strong chance of holding global warming to 2C the target most countries, including Australia, have adopted. Emissions from coal-fired power stations are the major contributor to climate change and gas-fired generators are also large emitters. CCS is intended to catch 65% to 90% of plant emissions, turn the CO₂ into liquid and pump it underground to be stored forever, with no leakage.
Its complexity and cost mean it has been in experimental mode for years and no power station with capture and storage at major scale exists anywhere. CCS needs to get a move on given the deadline looming for emission cuts and because it faces a challenge from emission-free solar and wind power stations that are now arriving in force in the global energy market. A 1000-MW solar power station starts construction this month in the US and an 845-MW wind farm has also been approved there.
By contrast, in Germany, which is home to the world's most advanced carbon-capture pilot plants, utilities RWE and Vattenfall had to shelve plans to store carbon from two leading projects due to community concerns, including fears over water pollution. And protests by residents and the local council last month caused the Dutch Government to cancel a plan by Shell to store carbon underground at Barendrecht. "They're saying what if the CO₂ has heavy metals and gets into groundwater, even in a thousand year's time.
And saying, we know it's going to be stored a kilometre underground, but what if the strata has a crack and the stuff can leak (upward) until its into our groundwater", said Robin Batterham, Australia's former chief scientist who was recently in Germany to advise on CCS. Similar concerns are surfacing here, where developers are now working to pin down sites for CCS plants and storage.
The Queensland Government has released 13 land areas for industry to explore for storage in the Blackall-Tambo area near Emerald, the Roma-Wandoan area and the Chin area, covering the Surat, Bowen, Galilee and Adavale basins. Queensland farmers' organisation AgForce says there are concerns that planned underground carbon storage in Queensland's Surat Basin and other basins may harm the Great Artesian Basin or the Murray-Darling Basin.
"The Surat Basin is over the GAB and is interrelated with the Murray-Darling Basin, and if we start having significant GAB impacts, then will the last one on the Darling Downs please turn the lights off. It's as simple as that", AgForce spokesman Drew Wagner said. "The reality is we do not know what impacts (CCS) may have on underground water. We don't know what impacts it may have on inter-aquifer relationships and we also may find it's going to have impacts in terms of tying up prime agricultural land".
NSW Farmers' Association president Charles Armstrong last week said CCS could leave the public with a dangerous, expensive legacy. Swiss miner Xstrata's unit CTSCo has been shortlisted as a preferred tenderer for carbon storage in Queensland. CTSCo would look to transport and pump into the Surat Basin up to 2.5 million metric tons of liquid CO₂ a year from a Wandoan coal-fired power plant that would be built by Stanwell Corporation and General Electric, with government funding.
CTSCo will start its community engagement process, or detailed talks with local communities, once it receives permit conditions likely next month or in February and has decided on its specific preferred sites. A 2009 study for the Queensland Government said the Surat Basin was a potentially prime target for high volume carbon storage but said more study was needed into links between water bodies and that well field location "is critical to mitigation of detrimental contamination effects".
"The cost of remediation strategies for damage to existing infrastructure resulting from CO₂ contamination could be prohibitive. Environmental impacts could be severe but remain speculative and cannot be quantified with currently available information", the study said. But it said several factors "contribute to a high level of confidence in an adequate safety margin".
CTSCo project director Alan du Mee said the Wandoan project would store CO₂ up to 2km underground in sites that are generally isolated from potable water. "The first stage is drilling holes to test rock properties and water quality. Later comes CO₂ testing, pumping it down and seeing what happens.
In each of those stages you're monitoring if there is any interaction with water supplies", Mr du Mee said. "(It's a) development project so that we all understand what does this take, what does it do, is it going to work, can we do something with CO₂. It's all 'gently, gently'. In the end, it's the communities and public at large that are going to decide whether this thing's going anywhere."
Investment jolt for electricity network
Adelaide Advertiser
Wednesday 8/12/2010 Page: 63
UP to $6 billion could be spent on South Australia's electricity transmission network by 2020 as demand for power increases, ElectraNet chief executive Ian Stirling said. Mr Stirling expected at least a $2 billion capital injection over the next 10 years with the potential investment increasing to $6 billion "if all the planets aligned".
"There could potentially be $6 billion of transmission development in South Australia in the next 10 years. That's probably the high side", Mr Stirling said at the SA Infrastructure Summit 2010 in Adelaide yesterday. "This would be driven by the mining sector and the need to be able to deliver new generation".
He said the need for a new electricity interconnector between SA and New South Wales, more demand for green power and a "decent carbon price" would also drive investment higher. Meanwhile, SA had enough electricity generation capacity for the next few years with the new Cherokee gas fired electricity power station to be built near Mannum to help meet the peak demand. The power station is expected to reach maximum capacity of 1000MWs by 2021, capable of meeting up to 25% of the state's peak demand.
Wind farm power generation capacity coming on stream also would meet demands for at least five years. But it would be at least 15 years before renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, became key to the state's electricity baseload with more gas-fired power stations to till the gap until then.
ElectraNet owns 6000 circuit kilometres of wires and 79 substations in the state and has invested $800 million in transmission in SA since 2000. It generated revenue of $3 billion last financial year and represents about 10% of the price of power paid by South Australians.
Meanwhile, Mr Stirling said expected electricity price rises may be partly offset over the next few years as "ramp gas" or gas from coal seam gas producers in New South Wales and Queensland was dumped on to the market. "This may affect the profitability of generators in Queensland", he said.
Wednesday 8/12/2010 Page: 63
UP to $6 billion could be spent on South Australia's electricity transmission network by 2020 as demand for power increases, ElectraNet chief executive Ian Stirling said. Mr Stirling expected at least a $2 billion capital injection over the next 10 years with the potential investment increasing to $6 billion "if all the planets aligned".
"There could potentially be $6 billion of transmission development in South Australia in the next 10 years. That's probably the high side", Mr Stirling said at the SA Infrastructure Summit 2010 in Adelaide yesterday. "This would be driven by the mining sector and the need to be able to deliver new generation".
He said the need for a new electricity interconnector between SA and New South Wales, more demand for green power and a "decent carbon price" would also drive investment higher. Meanwhile, SA had enough electricity generation capacity for the next few years with the new Cherokee gas fired electricity power station to be built near Mannum to help meet the peak demand. The power station is expected to reach maximum capacity of 1000MWs by 2021, capable of meeting up to 25% of the state's peak demand.
Wind farm power generation capacity coming on stream also would meet demands for at least five years. But it would be at least 15 years before renewable energy sources, such as geothermal, became key to the state's electricity baseload with more gas-fired power stations to till the gap until then.
ElectraNet owns 6000 circuit kilometres of wires and 79 substations in the state and has invested $800 million in transmission in SA since 2000. It generated revenue of $3 billion last financial year and represents about 10% of the price of power paid by South Australians.
Meanwhile, Mr Stirling said expected electricity price rises may be partly offset over the next few years as "ramp gas" or gas from coal seam gas producers in New South Wales and Queensland was dumped on to the market. "This may affect the profitability of generators in Queensland", he said.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Green light for wind farm
Adelaide Advertiser
Tuesday 7/12/2010 Page: 31
IN A landmark judgment that could set the precedent for community litigation against wind farm developments, the environmental court in Adelaide has ruled in favour of AGL Energy's Hallett 3 project at Mount Bryan in the Mid North. Handing down its judgment on the state's first case of this kind, the Environment, Resources and Development Court cleared the way for the $180 million wind farm. "The decision of the Council to grant development plan consent will be confirmed, subject to some minor variations to the conditions imposed", the judgment by Judge Susanne Cole, Commissioner Terry Mosel and Commissioner John Agnew said.
Some Mount Bryan residents had appealed against the 33-wind turbine project, citing visual amenity and noise concerns. The court accepted evidence that the wind farm will "comply sufficiently" with relevant noise standards and said it was up to regulatory bodies generating the policies and standards to look at raising them. "Views of the landscape will not be obstructed by the turbines, but they will form a new element in the landscape", the court said. Dairy farmer Richard Paltridge's appeal in the ERD court against Acciona Energy's $175 million Allendale East wind farm has been adjourned to the New Year.
A source close to the Mount Bryan case, who did not want to be named, commented that the judgment changed the dynamics and set a precedent for other cases that were sure to follow. "As a consequence of this decision, opponents to such projects around South Australia can now see that the demand for renewable energy outweighs any community concerns", he said.
An AGL Energy spokesperson said: "The appeal has caused some delay to the progress of the development of the wind farm, but we are pleased that we can now continue to move forward". AGL Energy has Hallett 1 and Hallett 2 wind farms already operational in the region, and is currently also constructing Hallett 4 and Hallett 5. The appellants are considering the merits of taking their appeal to the Supreme Court.
Dr Sarah Laurie, medical director of the Waubra Foundation, which is studying the health effects of wind turbines on rural communities, was disappointed with the decision. "There is growing evidence of rural Australians living near wind farms becoming very ill due to chronic sleep deprivation. "I am concerned that the current process is greatly biased towards the developers, who have significant financial resources."
Tuesday 7/12/2010 Page: 31
IN A landmark judgment that could set the precedent for community litigation against wind farm developments, the environmental court in Adelaide has ruled in favour of AGL Energy's Hallett 3 project at Mount Bryan in the Mid North. Handing down its judgment on the state's first case of this kind, the Environment, Resources and Development Court cleared the way for the $180 million wind farm. "The decision of the Council to grant development plan consent will be confirmed, subject to some minor variations to the conditions imposed", the judgment by Judge Susanne Cole, Commissioner Terry Mosel and Commissioner John Agnew said.Some Mount Bryan residents had appealed against the 33-wind turbine project, citing visual amenity and noise concerns. The court accepted evidence that the wind farm will "comply sufficiently" with relevant noise standards and said it was up to regulatory bodies generating the policies and standards to look at raising them. "Views of the landscape will not be obstructed by the turbines, but they will form a new element in the landscape", the court said. Dairy farmer Richard Paltridge's appeal in the ERD court against Acciona Energy's $175 million Allendale East wind farm has been adjourned to the New Year.
A source close to the Mount Bryan case, who did not want to be named, commented that the judgment changed the dynamics and set a precedent for other cases that were sure to follow. "As a consequence of this decision, opponents to such projects around South Australia can now see that the demand for renewable energy outweighs any community concerns", he said.
An AGL Energy spokesperson said: "The appeal has caused some delay to the progress of the development of the wind farm, but we are pleased that we can now continue to move forward". AGL Energy has Hallett 1 and Hallett 2 wind farms already operational in the region, and is currently also constructing Hallett 4 and Hallett 5. The appellants are considering the merits of taking their appeal to the Supreme Court.
Dr Sarah Laurie, medical director of the Waubra Foundation, which is studying the health effects of wind turbines on rural communities, was disappointed with the decision. "There is growing evidence of rural Australians living near wind farms becoming very ill due to chronic sleep deprivation. "I am concerned that the current process is greatly biased towards the developers, who have significant financial resources."
Ill wind for anti-turbine push: more to come
Sunday Age
Sunday 5/12/2010 Page: 5
THE Baillieu government has conceded its controversial wind farm policy is powerless to control the biggest expansion of wind power in Victoria's history, with 1322 new turbines planned across 28 approved developments.
Before the Brumby government lost office, embattled planning minister Justin Madden approved about $5 billion of wind power projects. If all farms go ahead, Victoria will have eight times its current wind generation capacity, from 427MWs to 3619MWs, equivalent to two Latrobe Valley brown coal power stations.
Under the Coalition's wind farm election policy, welcomed by anti-wind farm campaigners, residents can veto a development if turbines are less than two kilometres from their home. Planning authority was also given back to local councils. When the policy was released in June, the wind industry said it would kill off investment.
But in a concession likely to disappoint local anti-wind farm groups, new Planning Minister Matthew Guy told The Sunday Age that although several of the approved farms were contentious, the Coalition would not retrospectively apply its policies to the 28 wind farms already holding planning approvals. Such a move, he said, would create serious risks for business in Victoria. "We made it very clear to everyone we couldn't touch permits that were already granted".
The new minister encouraged energy companies to be "mindful" of the government's guidelines when building their projects. Coastal Guardians spokesman Tim Le Roy, who welcomed the election of Mr Baillieu, acknowledged the government had a problem applying its policy retrospectively but urged the industry to embrace the guidelines on a voluntary basis.
The Coalition hoped its wind farm policy would play well in the regional marginals of Ballarat East and Ripon, where the developments have been numerous and controversial. In a post election analysis of booths in these areas, the industry claimed wind farms had made no material difference to the way people voted. Labor held on to both Ballarat East and Ripon. According to the Department of Primary Industries web site, Mr Madden left his job with a clear in tray for wind farm approvals. There are now no projects waiting for Mr Guy's signature.
Under Labor government changes, the planning minister is responsible for assessing wind farm proposals of 30MWs or greater. Last week the industry was reeling from the Baillieu government's election, saying it was unlikely any more wind farm proposals would be developed in Victoria for some time. "We are not going to look at any projects in Victoria at this stage", said Andrew Richards, spokesman for wind power company Pacific Hydro. "It's just too difficult. The industry is in a holding pattern, a wait-and-see pattern". AGL Energy, another big wind investor, had similar sentiments.
Industry figures say the economics now are not quite right for Victoria's 3192MWs of approved wind farms. To be profitable, wind farms need a higher wholesale price of electricity. Two things push up this price: pro-renewable energy targets and market schemes, and a carbon price. The industry says a carbon price, which will make wind power more competitive with cheap brown coal electricity, means it is more likely the farms will go ahead. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has set 2011 as the year to set a price on carbon.
Mr Richards said that despite its tough wind farms policy, the Baillieu government could oversee Victoria's biggest expansion in wind-powered energy. "I'd imagine that over the next four or five years a large percentage of those projects will get built", he said.
(It's about time Conservative parties stopped sitting on the fence and kowtowing to climate change denialists and anti-windfarm opponents who are driven more by self-interest than good science - Blair)
Sunday 5/12/2010 Page: 5
THE Baillieu government has conceded its controversial wind farm policy is powerless to control the biggest expansion of wind power in Victoria's history, with 1322 new turbines planned across 28 approved developments.
Before the Brumby government lost office, embattled planning minister Justin Madden approved about $5 billion of wind power projects. If all farms go ahead, Victoria will have eight times its current wind generation capacity, from 427MWs to 3619MWs, equivalent to two Latrobe Valley brown coal power stations.
Under the Coalition's wind farm election policy, welcomed by anti-wind farm campaigners, residents can veto a development if turbines are less than two kilometres from their home. Planning authority was also given back to local councils. When the policy was released in June, the wind industry said it would kill off investment.
But in a concession likely to disappoint local anti-wind farm groups, new Planning Minister Matthew Guy told The Sunday Age that although several of the approved farms were contentious, the Coalition would not retrospectively apply its policies to the 28 wind farms already holding planning approvals. Such a move, he said, would create serious risks for business in Victoria. "We made it very clear to everyone we couldn't touch permits that were already granted".
The new minister encouraged energy companies to be "mindful" of the government's guidelines when building their projects. Coastal Guardians spokesman Tim Le Roy, who welcomed the election of Mr Baillieu, acknowledged the government had a problem applying its policy retrospectively but urged the industry to embrace the guidelines on a voluntary basis.
The Coalition hoped its wind farm policy would play well in the regional marginals of Ballarat East and Ripon, where the developments have been numerous and controversial. In a post election analysis of booths in these areas, the industry claimed wind farms had made no material difference to the way people voted. Labor held on to both Ballarat East and Ripon. According to the Department of Primary Industries web site, Mr Madden left his job with a clear in tray for wind farm approvals. There are now no projects waiting for Mr Guy's signature.
Under Labor government changes, the planning minister is responsible for assessing wind farm proposals of 30MWs or greater. Last week the industry was reeling from the Baillieu government's election, saying it was unlikely any more wind farm proposals would be developed in Victoria for some time. "We are not going to look at any projects in Victoria at this stage", said Andrew Richards, spokesman for wind power company Pacific Hydro. "It's just too difficult. The industry is in a holding pattern, a wait-and-see pattern". AGL Energy, another big wind investor, had similar sentiments.
Industry figures say the economics now are not quite right for Victoria's 3192MWs of approved wind farms. To be profitable, wind farms need a higher wholesale price of electricity. Two things push up this price: pro-renewable energy targets and market schemes, and a carbon price. The industry says a carbon price, which will make wind power more competitive with cheap brown coal electricity, means it is more likely the farms will go ahead. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has set 2011 as the year to set a price on carbon.
Mr Richards said that despite its tough wind farms policy, the Baillieu government could oversee Victoria's biggest expansion in wind-powered energy. "I'd imagine that over the next four or five years a large percentage of those projects will get built", he said.
(It's about time Conservative parties stopped sitting on the fence and kowtowing to climate change denialists and anti-windfarm opponents who are driven more by self-interest than good science - Blair)
Push for legislation Ban on growth of coal power
Adelaide Advertiser
Monday 6/12/2010 Page: 3
SOUTH Australia is planning to introduce tough new carbon emissions standards that will ban construction of new coalfired power stations. Legislation to apply the new limits will go to Parliament next year after talks with the electricity industry and the release of a discussion paper. Premier Mike Rann outlined details of the move at the UN climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, which is being attended by about 15,000 delegates from more than 190 countries and states.
Mr Rann said SA wanted to set a carbon emissions limit for new electricity production that would be by far the toughest in Australia. SA currently has two coalfired power stations, Flinders and Playford at Port Augusta, which provide nearly 35% of the state's power load. Both use low-quality brown coal from Leigh Creek and the Carbon Monitoring for Action group has estimated that, between them, the two stations use 4.97 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.
The new rules will not apply to the Flinders and Playford power stations but government sources said both were facing major operational changes - possibly conversion to natural gas, because the coal supply at Leigh Creek is expected to eventually run out. Mr Rann said the Commonwealth had initiated a consultation process on its policy to require all new power stations to meet best-practice emissions standards. "I support that approach as it offers an effective mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the stationary energy sector on a national basis", he told The Advertiser.
Gas accounts for almost half of SA's electricity generation, while 18% comes from wind power generation. By 2020, 33% of the state's power will come from renewable energy. Mr Rann said the announcement signalled a clear intention to drive the advantage home of having the toughest and most comprehensive regime for the carbon intensity of electricity generation in Australia.
He said the Government had been guided in its deliberations on the carbon intensity ceiling by expert advice received from the engineering services company, WorleyParsons. "The Government recognises that its approach may have implications for specific projects such as off-grid diesel projects as well as syngas and coal-to-liquids projects where power generation can form part of a larger process", Mr Rann said. "As a starting point, the Government intends to provide sufficient flexibility in its legislation to be able to recognise and respond to unintended outcomes. This will also take into account innovative approaches for managing carbon emissions that are being planned by project developers."
Monday 6/12/2010 Page: 3
SOUTH Australia is planning to introduce tough new carbon emissions standards that will ban construction of new coalfired power stations. Legislation to apply the new limits will go to Parliament next year after talks with the electricity industry and the release of a discussion paper. Premier Mike Rann outlined details of the move at the UN climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, which is being attended by about 15,000 delegates from more than 190 countries and states.
Mr Rann said SA wanted to set a carbon emissions limit for new electricity production that would be by far the toughest in Australia. SA currently has two coalfired power stations, Flinders and Playford at Port Augusta, which provide nearly 35% of the state's power load. Both use low-quality brown coal from Leigh Creek and the Carbon Monitoring for Action group has estimated that, between them, the two stations use 4.97 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.
The new rules will not apply to the Flinders and Playford power stations but government sources said both were facing major operational changes - possibly conversion to natural gas, because the coal supply at Leigh Creek is expected to eventually run out. Mr Rann said the Commonwealth had initiated a consultation process on its policy to require all new power stations to meet best-practice emissions standards. "I support that approach as it offers an effective mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the stationary energy sector on a national basis", he told The Advertiser.
Gas accounts for almost half of SA's electricity generation, while 18% comes from wind power generation. By 2020, 33% of the state's power will come from renewable energy. Mr Rann said the announcement signalled a clear intention to drive the advantage home of having the toughest and most comprehensive regime for the carbon intensity of electricity generation in Australia.
He said the Government had been guided in its deliberations on the carbon intensity ceiling by expert advice received from the engineering services company, WorleyParsons. "The Government recognises that its approach may have implications for specific projects such as off-grid diesel projects as well as syngas and coal-to-liquids projects where power generation can form part of a larger process", Mr Rann said. "As a starting point, the Government intends to provide sufficient flexibility in its legislation to be able to recognise and respond to unintended outcomes. This will also take into account innovative approaches for managing carbon emissions that are being planned by project developers."
Climate fund claims win on greenhouse gases
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday 4/12/2010 Page: 4
THE Climate Advocacy Fund has claimed victory in its campaign to get Aquila Resources and Paladin Energy to start reporting greenhouse gas emissions to shareholders. However, the founder and managing director of Paladin Energy, John Borshoff, has declared that his company "won't be held captive to eco-terrorists" and has not yet put the proposal to its board. The Climate Advocacy Fund, a joint initiative between The Climate Institute Australia and Australian Ethical Investor, said Aquila Resources had given an undertaking that it would report its emissions and reduction strategies next year as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project. It said Paladin Energy had also agreed to report emissions with the Global Reporting Initiative with two years.
The climate fund announced in September plans to target Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources, along with Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search, for failing to provide adequate information to shareholders about their carbon footprints. Julian Poulter, business director of The Climate Institute Australia, said Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources had taken important steps forward. "This sends a signal to other high emitting companies that disclosure and the management of carbon liabilities is core business and essential to providing shareholders, and the market, with the necessary information about this key material risk to their long term financial health", he said.
But Mr Borshoff said his company had agreed to nothing and attacked the Climate Advocacy Fund, calling on companies to "stand up against this and make their own minds up on (climate related) risks". "This whole movement has taken a track of religious fervour", he told BusinessDay. "We are not going to be held captive to eco-terrorists. It is like the nonsense around the Y2K bug. Who talks about the complete waste of time that that turned out to be?" Mr Borshoff said. "We will take a very pragmatic approach and if we see that this has some relevance then we will do it."
Saturday 4/12/2010 Page: 4
THE Climate Advocacy Fund has claimed victory in its campaign to get Aquila Resources and Paladin Energy to start reporting greenhouse gas emissions to shareholders. However, the founder and managing director of Paladin Energy, John Borshoff, has declared that his company "won't be held captive to eco-terrorists" and has not yet put the proposal to its board. The Climate Advocacy Fund, a joint initiative between The Climate Institute Australia and Australian Ethical Investor, said Aquila Resources had given an undertaking that it would report its emissions and reduction strategies next year as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project. It said Paladin Energy had also agreed to report emissions with the Global Reporting Initiative with two years.
The climate fund announced in September plans to target Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources, along with Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search, for failing to provide adequate information to shareholders about their carbon footprints. Julian Poulter, business director of The Climate Institute Australia, said Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources had taken important steps forward. "This sends a signal to other high emitting companies that disclosure and the management of carbon liabilities is core business and essential to providing shareholders, and the market, with the necessary information about this key material risk to their long term financial health", he said.
But Mr Borshoff said his company had agreed to nothing and attacked the Climate Advocacy Fund, calling on companies to "stand up against this and make their own minds up on (climate related) risks". "This whole movement has taken a track of religious fervour", he told BusinessDay. "We are not going to be held captive to eco-terrorists. It is like the nonsense around the Y2K bug. Who talks about the complete waste of time that that turned out to be?" Mr Borshoff said. "We will take a very pragmatic approach and if we see that this has some relevance then we will do it."
Monday, 13 December 2010
Looking past coal to mine dumps and sewers
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday 3/12/2010 Page: 4
THE bright tights of Sydney's central business district will be powered by rotting agricultural waste and sewage harvested from a 250-kilometre radius around the city, under a new plan to move away from coalfired energy.
The city's master plan relies on 27 existing or proposed trigeneration plants, mainly concealed in the basements of public buildings and city offices, to free the city of its dependence on the Hunter Valley coal that accounts for 80% of central Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions. The gas-driven trigeneration plants would convert plant matter to biogas, helping to cut the city's carbon emissions by 70% by the middle of the century. Meeting the target would put Sydney at the forefront of global cities converting from high to low carbon energy.
The plan comes as the World Meteorological Organisation prepares to release its annual review this morning, showing that 2010 has been one of the three hottest years on record, in line with the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The City of Sydney's plan could reduce household electricity bills across the state, which have risen sharply recently to pay for new infrastructure to support the existing coal-based network. The council believes it can reduce the need for spending on new transmission infrastructure by generating energy locally and improving efficiency.
"We set an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030", said the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore. "We made that commitment not because we thought it would be easy but because the best available research said it is needed to play our part in diverting catastrophic climate change".
The council estimated the cost of the project - which it expects will include public-private partnerships would be $950 million over 20 years, and would show a 10 to 20% return on investment for trigeneration operators.
"It sounds a lot but in comparison the NSW energy companies are set to spend $17.4 billion over the five years to 2014 on upgrading the electricity network of wires, poles and substations", Cr Moore said. And the NSW government has given consent and concept approval to two new coal-fired power stations at the cost of $7 billion".
Allan Jones, the city's chief development officer for energy and climate change, said trigeneration plants would be cheaper than many sources of renewable energy. They would also costless than coal-fired power with carbon sequestration, in which emissions are pumped underground so they do not enter the atmosphere.
"There is no single silver bullet here we do need decentralised energy, we do need renewable energy, we do need measures to be undertaken around transport", Mr Jones said. " [Trigeneration] is more economic than large-scale wind, solar PV [photovoltaic] and way, way more economic than coal-fired carbon capture and sequestration".
The speed at which the plan can be implemented will depend upon the introduction of a national carbon price, which will add some of the costs of greenhouse emissions to heavy polluting sources of power, and therefore make low-carbon power more competitive. A tender period for companies hoping to build and operate the trigeneration plants will close in January, and construction is expected to begin on several of them at once in 2013.
Friday 3/12/2010 Page: 4
THE bright tights of Sydney's central business district will be powered by rotting agricultural waste and sewage harvested from a 250-kilometre radius around the city, under a new plan to move away from coalfired energy.The city's master plan relies on 27 existing or proposed trigeneration plants, mainly concealed in the basements of public buildings and city offices, to free the city of its dependence on the Hunter Valley coal that accounts for 80% of central Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions. The gas-driven trigeneration plants would convert plant matter to biogas, helping to cut the city's carbon emissions by 70% by the middle of the century. Meeting the target would put Sydney at the forefront of global cities converting from high to low carbon energy.
The plan comes as the World Meteorological Organisation prepares to release its annual review this morning, showing that 2010 has been one of the three hottest years on record, in line with the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The City of Sydney's plan could reduce household electricity bills across the state, which have risen sharply recently to pay for new infrastructure to support the existing coal-based network. The council believes it can reduce the need for spending on new transmission infrastructure by generating energy locally and improving efficiency.
"We set an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030", said the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore. "We made that commitment not because we thought it would be easy but because the best available research said it is needed to play our part in diverting catastrophic climate change".
The council estimated the cost of the project - which it expects will include public-private partnerships would be $950 million over 20 years, and would show a 10 to 20% return on investment for trigeneration operators.
"It sounds a lot but in comparison the NSW energy companies are set to spend $17.4 billion over the five years to 2014 on upgrading the electricity network of wires, poles and substations", Cr Moore said. And the NSW government has given consent and concept approval to two new coal-fired power stations at the cost of $7 billion".
Allan Jones, the city's chief development officer for energy and climate change, said trigeneration plants would be cheaper than many sources of renewable energy. They would also costless than coal-fired power with carbon sequestration, in which emissions are pumped underground so they do not enter the atmosphere.
"There is no single silver bullet here we do need decentralised energy, we do need renewable energy, we do need measures to be undertaken around transport", Mr Jones said. " [Trigeneration] is more economic than large-scale wind, solar PV [photovoltaic] and way, way more economic than coal-fired carbon capture and sequestration".
The speed at which the plan can be implemented will depend upon the introduction of a national carbon price, which will add some of the costs of greenhouse emissions to heavy polluting sources of power, and therefore make low-carbon power more competitive. A tender period for companies hoping to build and operate the trigeneration plants will close in January, and construction is expected to begin on several of them at once in 2013.
Wind turbines
Australian
Friday 3/12/2010 Page: 15
PERSONALLY, I find wind turbines quite pleasing to see in certain types of landscape. Unlike Graham Lloyd ("The great wind rush", Inquirer, 27-28/11), I think of daisies, not triffids. They are far more attractive than chimneys belching smoke.
Obviously there are sites to avoid, such as landscapes valued for their wild beauty and bird migration routes, and turbines should not be built close to houses. If there are problems, such as bird kills and health issues, these need to be investigated, but greenhouse warming is likely to be far more devastating to birds and humans than wind turbines, even if such impacts are proven.
We need to develop a mix of renewable energy technologies in Australia, having regard to cost and unforeseen environmental impacts, and to use energy more efficiently.
Margaret Dingle, Norwood, SA
Friday 3/12/2010 Page: 15
PERSONALLY, I find wind turbines quite pleasing to see in certain types of landscape. Unlike Graham Lloyd ("The great wind rush", Inquirer, 27-28/11), I think of daisies, not triffids. They are far more attractive than chimneys belching smoke.
Obviously there are sites to avoid, such as landscapes valued for their wild beauty and bird migration routes, and turbines should not be built close to houses. If there are problems, such as bird kills and health issues, these need to be investigated, but greenhouse warming is likely to be far more devastating to birds and humans than wind turbines, even if such impacts are proven.
We need to develop a mix of renewable energy technologies in Australia, having regard to cost and unforeseen environmental impacts, and to use energy more efficiently.
Margaret Dingle, Norwood, SA
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