New wave of economical power

Daily Telegraph
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 45

CLEAN power group Carnegie Corporation says more than a third of Australia's base-load power needs could be economically generated by wave technology. Australia has a potential near-shore wave energy resource of about 171,000 megawatts, four times the country's installed power generation capacity, Carnegie Corporation said yesterday citing a report it commissioned from RPS MetOcean. "This report further supports Carnegie Corporation's view that Australia has the world's best wave energy resource a resource we hope will be utilised through technologies such as CETO for base-load power generation," managing director Michael Ottaviano said.

CETO technology uses submerged units anchored to the sea floor that move with the motion of passing waves, driving pumps which in turn pressurise seawater that is delivered ashore through a pipeline. The high-pressure seawater is used to drive hydroelectric turbines and generate base-load electricity. Carnegie Corporation said a "conservative" 10 per cent of Australia's calculated near-shore wave resource was estimated to be economically extractable.

Climate ripe for change

Herald Sun
Wednesday 1/10/2008 Page: 19

THE Garnaut Climate Change Review is now complete. Its brief was to "examine the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy, and recommend medium to long-term policies and policy frameworks to improve the prospects for sustainable prosperity". To me, the concept of sustainable prosperity is the key to turning climate change mitigation into a win-win scenario. I'll explain why, but first, some background.

Ross Garnaut, the economics professor from the Australian National University who had oversight of the review, was criticised by many climate scientists for proposing weak carbon emissions reduction targets. After all, the mainstream science says we are close to, or have already overshot, the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide that causes dangerous climate change. Yet Garnaut's initial proposal would have us increasing carbon dioxide by another 44 per cent. This is a compromise goal, but one he considers feasible.

After all, the difficulty in reaching international agreements on how each nation might wind back their carbon output is immense. This mismatch between the policy and the science poses a significant problem. With it, we cannot hope to avoid most of the really serious economic and environmental impacts of global warming. Garnaut calls it the "diabolical problem".

But what if we are looking at the problem from the wrong way around? What if the diabolical problem is really just the ultimate gold-plated opportunity for the next economic revolution? A reliable and continually growing supply of cheap, easily generated energy was the driving force behind the industrial revolution and modern communications age.

This, in turn, has brought us high standards of living, amazing technological breakthroughs and sustained economic growth. The catch is that this cheap, reliable energy has come from fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Huge stores of carbon, buried safely for millions of years, are now being released back into the air by us at an astounding rate. Hit the climate system with a shock like this, and it hits back. Hard. Experts also admit to another, little discussed problem.

Our energy infrastructure needs an overhaul to replace ageing equipment and increase its capacity to supply more energy to an expanding economy. Then there is the peaking of fossil fuel supplies. We are close to the point where we've reached maximum global oil production. And demand from China for oil is growing fast. Prices are rising as a result, and they're not ever heading back to the inexpensive days of the 1980s and 1990s. It's not only oil. It's also coal.

Traditional sources of energy, based on fossil fuels, are becoming scarcer and more expensive. Their extensive use also causes dangerous climate change. Put this way, the decision to invest heavily - and rapidly - in renewable energies such as geothermal (hot rocks), solar thermal (desert mirrors), wave and wind energy, and rooftop photovoltaic systems, is a no-brainer. These technologies offer the only way to achieve an ongoing, growing energy supply.

What's more, unlike carbon-based energy, they are getting cheaper, not more expensive. The Garnaut Review recognises these core issues, but its focus remains too heavily directed towards emissions reductions targets. I'd argue that if we concentrate most of our effort on helping the market get the renewable energy solution right, then carbon emission will fall rapidly as result. It's an emergent property of fixing the energy supply. It doesn't need to be an explicit aim. Oh, and we get a prosperous, sustainable economy to boot. Win-win.

Barry Brook is Sir Hubert Wilkins Professor of Climate Change at the University of Adelaide

Report urges council to harvest wind in the CBD

Age
Wednesday 1/10/2008 Page: 7

Orange-Bellied Parrots, beware: wind turbines are being considered by the Melbourne City Council as a way of reducing the city's carbon footprint. A report adopted by the council last night discusses options for micro turbines on the roofs of Melbourne's tallest buildings, and suggests looking at sites including Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra for more large-scale projects. The report is aimed at reducing the city's net carbon emissions to zero by 2020.

It says the micro turbines do not in themselves significantly reduce the emissions of a building. "But if a strategy was adopted of installing micro wind turbines on all of Melbourne's tall buildings, this would collectively contribute considerably to carbon reductions," the report says. It suggests a study to identify which buildings would be suitable and requiring all new developments to include a proportion of on-site renewable or low-carbon energy supply.

Cr Fraser Brindley, who chairs the council's environment committee, said the wind turbine suggestion was a "distraction". The report's more achievable and cost effective recommendations were for the council to establish a municipal energy authority to supply energy locally through distributed systems, he said. However, the zero by 2020 target was unlikely to be met unless the council started committing to it in the budget, Cr Brindley said. In 2005-06, excluding freight, the city produced 5.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, an increase of 59% from 2002. With no action, Melbourne emissions are tipped to rise to 8 million tonnes in 2020.

No short-term disaster for coal-fired plants: report - Canberra pressured to dump payouts

Age
Wednesday 1/10/2008 Page: 6

CLIMATE adviser Ross Garnaut has made a mockery of claims that coal-fired power plants will have to close under emissions trading, showing that most will remain profitable until at least 2020 whatever target is chosen.

Professor Garnaut's final report puts pressure on the Federal Government to abandon its plans to compensate coal-fired power generators, projecting that 93% of today's brown-coal power generation will continue if, as he expects is the most likely case under a global deal, Australia cuts emissions by 10% below 2000 levels.

A 25% emissions target - the minimum advocated by climate scientists - would result in nearly two-thirds of brown-coal power generation still operating at the end of next decade. The modelling suggests the industry has time to adapt to a cleaner future. It is in stark contrast to claims this week by International Power Australia, owner of Victoria's 40-year-old Hazelwood power station, that even a soft start to emissions trading would force closure.

Under Professor Garnaut's vision, Australia's energy supply will change from being one of the world's dirtiest to being nearly greenhouse emissions free by mid-century. The change would cone through emissions trading and massive spending on development and infrastructure for lowemissions technology: $2.7 billion a year as part of a global commitment of $124 billion a year.

But slashing energy emissions will take time, and depend on the success of "clean coal" technology, predominantly carbon capture and storage, or burying carbon dioxide emissions kilometres beneath the surface, but also developing the use of vegetation as a greenhouse store.

"Priority should be given to the resolution of whether a near-zero coal future is even feasible, either partially or in total," the report says. "If it is not, then Australia needs to know as soon as possible so that all who depend on the coal industry can begin the process of adjustment." Most of the cuts in emissions before 2020 would come from households using less electricity as prices soar, and buildings and appliances becoming more efficient. Most new energy production would be gas, which has lower emissions than coal but more than genuinely clean forms of energy.

The aluminium industry would carry a disproportionate share of the pain as it chose to abandon Australia for countries where electricity will be considerably cheaper. Professor Garnaut says this would not be "carbon leakage" - industry moving offshore without cutting their emissions - as predicted by business groups, but a shift to running on clean hydro-electricity in Papua New Guinea and central Africa.

By the 2020s, a technology shift would kick in, with clean coal and renewable energy forms, particularly geothermal, or "hot rocks", and perhaps large-scale solar thermal expected to become economically viable. Nuclear could also come into play, but unless clean coal proves a failure or is dramatically more expensive than predicted, Professor Garnaut does not believe it is a path that Australia will go down given its large range of energy options.

Low polluters could be hurt most

Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 23

COMPANIES with relatively low carbon emissions could suffer the most under an emissions trading scheme, through cost increases passed on from suppliers, private sector research shows. Although heavy polluters have dominated the debate over Government assistance, consultants from Business Development Partners say higher prices for carbon-intensive goods could shave up to 48 per cent off pretax profits of companies further down the supply chain.

The findings come as Professor Ross Garnaut releases the final report from his climate change review today. The report will include Treasury modelling on the economic impact of a carbon pollution reduction scheme. Carbon-heavy industries such as aluminium will be cushioned by free permits to emit carbon, but the effect of carbon pricing on sectors without such assistance is uncertain.

The study said a carbon price of $20 a tonne could translate to $11.5 billion in extra costs for business - or 9.6 per cent of pretax company profits - based on 2006 figures. This increase was equivalent to petrol rising to $2.65 a litre,it said, compared to recent levels of about $1.55. Construction businesses could be the hardest hit, with carbon costs eroding 48 per cent of the sector's pre-tax profits. Prices of building materials would rise sharply because of their high carbon intensity, and competition between builders would prevent them passing on these costs to customers, it said.

"The construction trade services are a large consumer of steel, concrete and wood products, all of which are emissions intensive inputs to produce and transport," the report said. "The introduction of a carbon price will see an unprecedented shift in the economics for companies in many industries as a result of these changes in input prices." Makers of other consumer and commercial goods - such as electrical appliances, textiles and mining machinery - could also be exposed to carbon costs worth between 18 per cent and 44 per cent of pretax profits, it said.

Last month Professor Garnaut said the Government should aim to cut Australia's 2000 carbon emissions by 10 per cent by 2020, which sets the carbon price at $34.50. But 16 Australian scientists from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are calling on the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, for more aggressive cuts. The Government will indicate the pace at which it intends to cut emissions by the end of this year.

AGL sets for more wind in its sail

Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 24

Wind assets will be AGL Energy's next investment focus as renewable energy certificate (REC) liabilities pressure AGL to ramp up its green generation as an alternative to buying RECs on the market, estimates Merrill Lynch. A downturn in price is unlikely given the current RECs fervour and the Rudd government's clean energy targets, but the unprecedented 2005 REC slump is still in recent memory.

Alternatively, AGL could sell its power generation portfolio immediately. It has already sold two Hallett Wind Farms in South Australia to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Perpetual-Wilson HTM. JPMorgan analyst Mark Greenwood last week detailed the impact of the Federal Government's proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS) on Australia's liquefied natural gas players after saying that Woodside Petroleum chief Don Voelte may have gone over the top with his statement that ETS could kill off the Browse Basin LNG project.

Greenwood proposes that coal seam gas play Queensland Gas Co would take a 18.4 percent hit by 2010 based on a $20 a tonne carbon tax. Santos would be the next hardest hit due to the high carbon content of its Cooper Basin operations.

Power shift puts nuclear back in race

Age
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 2

NUCLEAR power is surfing a new wave of growth in Europe, as governments and electricity generators search for reliable, low-cost alternatives to coal and its emissions of carbon dioxide. Last week's $27.5 billion acquisition by Electricite de France of British Energy and its ageing network of nuclear plants is another sign that nuclear is back, as 30 years of opposition to building plants gives way to priorities in the fight against global warning.

EDF plans to build four reactors in Britain, the first by 2017, to replace coal-fired power stations likely to become uneconomic under European Union plans to make power stations pay for their carbon dioxide emissions after 2012. France's electricity supplier, now a public-private hybrid, also has ambitious plans to expand nuclear power in China, the US and South Africa. It is already building a state-of-the-art, 1600-megawatt plant at Flamanville, on the coast of Normandy, and another plant is being built in Finland.

France is the world's nuclear specialist. It generates 78% of its electricity from nuclear power and produces a sixth of the world's nuclear power output. Once reviled for its choice of nuclear over coal, it now feels it has been proved right. China plans to build 40 nuclear plants by 2020. US Undersecretary of State William Burns revealed this month that India had promised to buy 10 nuclear plants from US suppliers, implying a big expansion of its nuclear industry after the recent lifting of global sanctions.

"The order books of the world's nuclear suppliers are full, and there is a long waiting list," said one well-placed observer. "China is the most important player, but there are big ambitions in the US. EDF has big plans for expansion in Britain. Sweden has reversed its commitment to phase them out and is looking at building more.

"Italy is looking at it. Only Germany is still committed to close its plants, but they're talking about changing that." In a landmark report in June, the International Energy Agency estimated that if the world was to meet the target of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at least cost, it would need to open a nuclear plant every fortnight for the next 40 years - along with similar shifts to greater energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage.

Nuclear expert Pierre Zaleski, of the Dauphine University of Paris, said the new generation of nuclear plants was more efficient than those of the 1970s. while the fast-breeder reactors now under development would use one-80th of the uranium to produce the sane power. Environmental veteran Brice Lalonde, who co-founded Friends of Earth and was environment minister under the Socialist Party, is one of several prominent French leftists who have crossed sides to work for President Nicolas Sarkozy, in his case as France's ambassador for climate change negotiations.

Once a leading opponent of nuclear power, he now sees it as inevitable. "I've fought against nuclear power plants," Mr Lalonde told BusinessDay. "I feared they would lead to contamination and accidents. "Now I must admit that, 30 years later, the damn things are working very well. If you want to fight climate change, you have to have every available weapon. You cant escape it. You have to choose the lesser of two evils."

Garnaut gives rival lobbies his final answer

Canberra Times
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 8

Professor Ross Garnaut will issue his final report into emissions trading today, with conservationists pushing for tough environmental protection and business groups urging strong support for economic growth. In May last year, state Labor governments and the then federal Labor Opposition commissioned Professor Garnaut to provide advice on the most economically efficient response to climate change. Professor Garnaut has issued a discussion paper and three draft reports containing recommendations on most key issues.

The final report is expected to contain fresh data on the impact of emissions trading on the energy sector, transport and forestry. Professor Garnaut's most important draft recommendation is that Australia should aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent within 12 years - or by 5 per cent if a global agreement on tackling climate change cannot be reached. He believes Australia should aim for a global atmospheric concentration of 550 parts of carbon dioxide per million.

Both recommendations prompted a storm of criticism from green groups, who have lobbied him to toughen tip the targets in the final report. The Federal Government says Professor Garnaut's report is merely a guide to what form its official climate change strategy will take. The Government's own process is now under way. Its draft plan, contained in a green paper issued in July, is to be supplement by a final plan, in the form of a white paper due out by year's end.

Today's final report will present up-to-date modelling on the impacts of climate change, but the main conclusions have been flagged for some time. The emissions trading scheme that forms the central response to the challenge of climate change in the initial Garnaut Report and the Government's green paper drew heavily on the Shergold Report commissioned by then prime minister John Howard in 2006.

One of the key links between them has been the influence of former Treasury official Martin Parkinson, who headed the Shergold secretariat and now heads the Department of Climate Change. But, for all the recent attention to climate change, the fact is that there has been little original thinking on this problem for a long time.

Treasurer Paul Keating commissioned the Productivity Commission - then called the Industry Commission - in 1991 to report to the government on how Australia would best prepare itself to respond to future rises in temperature estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to be somewhere in the range of 1.9 to 5.2 degrees.

The 1991 report, The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Greenhouse Gases, came up with with familiar sounding points. The 251-page report said the cost of acting on climate change would be "around 1.5 per cent of Australia's national product", with the greatest impact coming from the impact on the nation's coal sector.

The report stated:
*Difficulties arise due to the global nature of the problem, with nations tempted to freeload on the efforts of others,
*Difficulties will also come from managing the issue in countries at different stages of economic development;
*International consensus is unlikely in the foreseeable future, but unilateral action would bring great costs for negligible benefit.

The commission recommended active participation in international negotiations. It also recommended the use of "market-based instruments to pursue a consensus target". It specifically advocated tradable permits as the most efficient policy instrument. But it noted that while "tradable permits are thus very attractive in principle, there are some difficulties to overcome in devising a workable system".

`Closure of power stations on cards'

Australian
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 2

THE chief of one of Victoria's main brown coal power stations has said the plant in its present form would be forced to close under the proposed emissions trading scheme. Graeme York, the chief executive of International Power Hazelwood, said the Hazelwood station was one of several in the Latrobe Valley that could not survive a carbon price in its current guise.

"We accept that Hazelwood, and in fact all of the Latrobe Valley power stations, they are not going to continue to operate for the rest of what would have been perceived to be their life without reducing their emissions significantly," he said. Mr York was commenting after International Power Australia put in a submission to the commonwealth's green paper on emissions trading warning that a charge of as little as $5 per tonne of CO2, emissions would affect the viability of its power stations.

"We fully support the idea of emissions trading, but what we need to have is some sort of transition," Mr York said. "In our own submission we put forward a proposal which identified some of the higher emitting assets for timed closure and (to) have an agreement to ultimately close those assets. "It would be closure of Hazelwood as we know it, and it would be over a period of time. "With emissions trading, the asset is going to need to go through some sort of change and that's why we are investing in projects to try to reduce emissions." A $370 million program to retrofit low-emissions technology to the station is being undertaken at the moment.

Mr York said although the station had fuel to operate until 2036, its lifespan would be more likely to end in 2020 without a soft start to emissions trading. "Our concern is if there's not a smooth transition then we will end up with major shocks to all of the Victoria generators," he said. The Hazelwood station employs 400 workers, while International Power's Loy Yang B station, also in the Latrobe Valley, employs 140. The Victorian Government hopes carbon capture and storage can be quickly perfected to allow the state to continue its dependence on brown coal and the cheap electricity it produces.

Oh buoy, wax your board for wave power

Age
Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 4

THE market loves a "green" story, regardless of how convenient or inconvenient the truth may be. The latest green tale comes from Perth's Carnegie Corporation, which released details of an "independent report" stating wave power could provide 171,000 megawatts of electricity for Australia - four times our existing power generation.

Carnegie Corporation managing director Michael Ottaviano said the report, by London based RPS MetOcean, found that Victoria has an "estimated near-shore wave energy resource of 18,000MW, almost double the state's total installed power generation capacity". "Harnessing Victoria's waves could generate 20% of the state's current power needs," Ottaviano added. The market lapped it up, with Carnegie Corporation rising 26%, or 3.5¢ to 17¢ on the news.

But it seems Carnegie Corporation has a different interpretation to Full Disclosure about what constitutes an independent report. In this case, Carnegie Corporation paid RPS MetOcean to do the work. When pressed on how much Carnegie Corporation paid RPS MetOcean, Ottaviano refused to answer. "Of course I can't disclose that," he said. "Like with all our supply contracts, I can't reveal the figures paid." Supply contract - an interesting choice of words.

Also tucked away in the executive summary of the report is the following tidbit of information: "Wave data was sourced primarily from NOAA WaveWatch III modelling and compared to available measured data for seven sites across southern Australia." In English, that means the power estimates are based on computer modelling, and the only real data has come from seven buoys floating off Australia's 36,000 km coastline. That's one every 5140 km.

And how many of those buoys are located in Victoria, where Carnegie Corporation hopes 18,000MW of power can be generated? None. Nada. Zip. The closest two are at Cape Sorell, on the west coast of Tasmania, and Eden in NSW. There's another at Kangaroo Island and four are in WA.

Ottaviano stands by the report. "It has been done by RPS MetOcean, a respected company, using tried and tested methods backed by facts and actual wave data gathered from 11 sites," he said. Except it's seven sites, not it. Indeed, the estimates are largely based on WaveWatch III computer modelling - which British meteorological bodies say "has been found to overestimate the size of waves". "Yes, I am aware of that," Ottaviano told Full Disclosure.

"But we have been deliberately conservative in our estimates because of that." Not as conservative as the nation's previous Prime Minister, who rode wave power into the last election. "Wave energy, such as that being developed by Carnegie Corporation in Perth, is a leading innovative renewable energy technology," said John Howard back in October, before pledging $5 million to the company.

Wave power could run nation

Sydney Morning Herald
Monday 29/9/2008 Page: 6

THE power of waves close to Australia's southern coastline can be harnessed to provide over a third of the nation's electricity, research suggests. The energy swirling through the Southern Ocean could supply the nation's power needs many times over, although only a fraction can be harvested cheaply, a report by engineering consultants RPS MetOcean says.

The independent assessment was commissioned by wave electricity company Carnegie Corporation, which hopes to draw investment in a demonstration facility off Fremantle. It is also examining a potential wave farm site off Eden on the NSW South Coast.

The report estimated that about 17,000 megawatts can be reaped through wave farms in areas with a water depth of less than 25 metres. "The World Energy Council estimates that the energy that could be harvested from the world's oceans is equal to twice the amount of electricity that the world currently consumes," said Carnegie Corporation's managing director, Mike Ottaviano.

Don't go soft on climate, PM warned 16 scientists pressure Rudd

Sydney Morning Herald
Monday 29/9/2008 Page: 1

IN A move that will test the Rudd Government's climate credentials, Australia's leading climate scientists have written an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to impose deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and back a tough global agreement that will avoid dangerous climate change. The 16 scientists, who all worked with the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warn "there is no time to lose" and call on Mr Rudd to slash Australia's emissions by at least 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Their intervention comes on the eve of tomorrow's final report by the Government's climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut, and challenges one of his key findings. Professor Garnaut has already advised Mr Rudd to make a slower start to cutting emissions - 10 per cent by 2020 - even though he recognises the risk of weaker targets globally.

In their letter sent to Mr Rudd on Friday, the scientists, some of whom are leading climate experts for the CSIRO, argue against the slow start. "Failure of the world to act now will leave Australians with a legacy of economic, environmental, social and health costs that will dwarf the scale of national investment required to address this fundamental problem," they warn.

The scientists include Dr John Church, a leading authority on rising sea levels who recently stepped down as chair of the joint scientific committee of the World Climate Research Program. Dr Church is also a senior CSIRO researcher but he and other scientists from the organisation signed the letter as individuals.

Also among the signatories are Dr Roger Jones, from the CSIRO, who is advising the federal Treasury and Professor Garnaut's climate change review, Professors Nathan Bindoff and David Karoly, who worked on the most recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Professor Tony McMichael, from the Australian National University, who advised the panel on the human health impacts of climate change; Professor Matthew England, joint director for the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales; and Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a global expert on climate change and the Great Barrier Reef.

The scientists say an Australian target of 25 per cent would be "an equitable contribution" to the global effort to avoid dangerous climate change. "As a group of Australia's leading climate change scientists, we urge you to adopt this target as a minimum requirement for Australia's contribution to an effective global climate agreement," they write.

The letter poses a major dilemma for Mr Rudd and his Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, who is due to attend a critical round of UN climate talks in December. In his last report, Professor Garnaut advised the Government to support a global agreement that would stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at 550 parts per million, even though this risked dangerous climate change.

Professor Garnaut acknowledged the scientific consensus argued that a lower target of 450 parts per million was necessary keep the global temperature from rising above 2 degrees and avoid dangerous climate change. But he argued world powers were not ready to make such cuts and that supporting the 450 target now, rather than in the future, could scuttle the UN climate talks.

The scientists' letter, however, warns: "In the long run, greenhouse gas concentrations need to be stabilised at a level well below 450ppm. In order to stay below 2 degrees C, global emissions must peak and decline before 2015 so there is no time to lose." Professor Nathan Bindoff, one of the letter's signatories, told the Herald the scientists had enormous respect for Professor Garnaut's work, but he said: "We're deciding now what the future climate will be at the end of this century. The question about acting now is really important. The cost of procrastinating is at the heart of this problem."

Wave-power trial bid Tassie in mix for new green energy

Hobart Mercury
Monday 29/9/2008 Page: 7

TWO-THIRDS of Tasmania's energy needs could be generated from waves, says a renewable energy company. Carnegie Corporation is in talks with the State Government about setting up a wave energy trial in Tasmania. The West Australian company will release an independent report to the stock exchange today, estimating Australia has a wave-energy resource of 170,000 megawatts, including 17,000MW in Tasmanian waters.

Of that, the report found 1700MW. or 68 per cent of the state's energy needs, was economically extractable. Managing director Michael Ottaviano said Tasmania had a wave-energy resource as good as any in the world. "Front a Tasmanian point of view, wave energy aligns so well with other renewable [energy] and in particular Hydro which has been hit more recently with water shortages," Dr Ottaviano said.

He said his firm had spoken with the State Government. However, he said other states, including Victoria and Western Australia were competing for commercial trials. The technology is called CETO, after a Greek goddess. Submerged buoys move with the motion of passing waves to drive seabed pump units which deliver pressurised seawater to the shore via a pipeline.

The high-pressure seawater is used to drive hydro-electric turbines and can also be used to supply a desalination plant. The company hopes to have the technology ready for commercial application by next year and predicts it could be competing with the coal industry as a base-load power generator in five to 10 years. Dr Ottaviano said the technology was already cost competitive with other renewables such as wind and solar energy but had the advantage of constant supply.

Greens energy spokesman Kim Booth said the technology had enormous potential. "It think that would be a fabulous thing that the Government ought to have serious look at." he said. "It is the sort of thing they should have done instead of spending $92 million a year on the Basslink cable." In May, Hydro Tasmania signed a memorandum of understanding with Sydney BioPower systems to generate tidal and wave power to 500 homes on King Island and Flinders Islands. A Hydro spokeswoman said the company had not had contact with Carnegie.

Making a clean break

Australian
Monday 29/9/2008 Page: 40

AFTER two years as The Australian's environment writer Matthew Warren has been poached to be the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, which represents the renewable energy industry in Australia.

Some tree huggers were shocked in 2006 when Warren, after 14 years in the environmental policy field, switched from the NSW Minerals Council of Australia to The Oz's environment round. Despite highly publicised run-ins with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change head Rajendra Pachauri and Australian Greens leader Bob Brown, Warren has been widely regarded in the media as a tough but fair analyst of the evolving environment debate in Australia.

Moderation way to go: retailer-generator TRUenergy

Age
Monday 29/9/2008 Page: 2

THE Federal Government needs to adopt a moderate emissions reduction trajectory, and support for a renewable energy target must be maintained, says energy retailer and generator TRUEnergy. In its submission to the emissions trading green paper, TRUEnergy says incentives need to be provided to encourage renewable energy investment on top of the Government's commitment to start its carbon pollution reduction scheme in 2010.

The Government has committed to extending its mandatory renewable energy target scheme (MRET) to require that 20% of Australia's electricity supply conies from renewable energy sources by 2020. TRUEnergy managing director Richard Mclndoe told BusinessDay he would wait for Treasury to release its economic modelling next month.

But he said a trajectory similar to government adviser Professor Ross Garnaut's 10% reduction in emissions by 2020 would be appropriate. TRUEnergy has matched the Government's commitment to reduce its emissions by 60% by 2050. Mr Mclndoe said the uncertainty around an emissions trading scheme had made it difficult to get funding for low emissions investment. "For the last 18 months it has been almost impossible to get any traction with board and bankers in investing in large capital projects because we don t know what the trajectory is going to be and we don't know the price," he said.

"It is starting to compromise the viability of those new investments because if you wait too long your existing assets start to deteriorate." He said it was unreasonable to expect generators to turn around their emissions profile immediately after the Government's white paper is published at the end of the year. "A moderate trajectory would be the sensible policy because you have MRET which is bringing that new technology into the market," he said.

Top End snatches $24bn gas plant prize from under the West's nose

Weekend Australian
Saturday 27/9/2008 Page: 2

ONE of the biggest private investments in Australian history was clinched yesterday when Japanese gas giant Inpex chose Darwin harbour as the site for a multi-billion dollar LNG plant that will process eight million tonnes of gas piped from the
Browse Basin off the northern West Australian coast.

The announcement that Inpex planned to pipe gas 850km across the Timor Sea in favour of processing the LNG at a hub in the Kimberley ended months of competition between the the NT and Western Australia. The deal cements Darwin's status as a major industrial and commercial centre, but WA's loss was greeted with bitter disappointment by the Kimberley's Aboriginal Land Council, which had pinned its hopes on the plant as a way of out of poverty for remote-living indigenous people.

Inpex's Japanese president Naoki Kuroda, announcing the deal in Darwin yesterday, said that at the expected gas processing rate of 1.6 million tonnes of LNG per annum, the plant would produce the equivalent of 50 per cent of Australia's current LPG production. Mr Kuroda said the NT Government had been able to provide certainty for the $24 billion investment, with the Japanese Government pushing to meet a tight deadline to guarantee the security of Japan's future gas supply.

Federal Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson said yesterday the investment was "potentially the biggest investment in Australia's history" and would cement Australia's world standing as an "energy superpower". "It will prove to be side by side with the expansion of the Olympic Dam in South Australia," he said. Chief Minister Paul Henderson who used the gas plant as the excuse to call an election 11 months early in the Territory said the project would deliver $50 billion to the NT economy over 20 years and would bring 2300 jobs. An eight-week public consultation process would begin after Inpex lodged an environmental impact statement, Mr Henderson said.

"We have today taken a giant step forward in terms of underpinning the future of the Territory's economic prosperity and diversifying our economy," he said. But a spokeswoman for the indigenous Larrakia Nation, Donna Jackson, said the gas plant development would threaten archaeological sites and an Aboriginal dreaming track. There had been no consultation with the community on the environmental and cultural ramifications of the plant, she said.

"I am really, really disappointed," Ms Jackson said. "I am astounded at how easily things are rubber-stamped in this town." West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said he was not surprised by Inpex's decision and labelled it an example of "appalling project management" by the former Labor government in WA. He said the project's greenhouse gas emissions would be increased by 20 per cent because the gas would have to be piped 850km from the Browse Basin to Darwin. "I find it quite extraordinary that the federal Government is supporting a project that significantly increases greenhouse gas emissions." he said.

Solar subsidy comes under fire

Age
Saturday 27/9/2008 Page: 11

A CONTROVERSIAL subsidy for household solar panels that divided John Brumby's cabinet faces a potential fight in the upper house, with all opposition parties damning it as too weak to be effective. The attack from both ends of the political spectrum has been echoed by the state's environmental sustainability commissioner in a draft copy of a government report. Ian McPhail's draft State of the Environment report, seen in part by The Age, says the Government's solar policy does not offer enough incentive for people to install panels as it pays a premium only for surplus energy fed into the grid - not energy used at home.

"All we're saying is, because of the abundance of the solar energy available, there should be positive encouragement to get the latest technology in place," Dr McPhail said. A similar view is held by key members of the Liberal Party, Nationals, Greens and Democratic Labor Party MLC Peter Kavanagh, who together carry 21 of the 40 votes in the Legislative Council. Under the Government's policy announced in May, households generating energy using solar photovoltaic systems up to two kilowatts in size will be paid 60 cents a kilowatt-hour, nearly four times the standard retail rate of 17 cents.

The issue provoked heated clashes in cabinet, with Energy Minister Peter Batchelor winning backing for a net feed-in tariff - a scheme that offers the premium rate for surplus energy only. Environment Minister Gavin Jennings had pushed for a gross tariff based on a German model, under which the premium is paid for all solar energy, whether surplus or used at home. Liberal environment spokesman David Davis said the Government's proposal looked weak, and called for a national approach to promoting solar energy.

Nationals spokesman Peter Crisp said he saw huge advantages in following the German scheme. "solar panels are saving somebody capital infrastructure in a new power station, they are saving the environment, so we've got to find a way to reward people for that. A net feed-in tariff doesn't do that," he said.

Greens MLC Greg Barber said net tariff would have perverse effects, making it more viable to put solar panels on buildings that used hardly any power, such as a shed or holiday home. But Dr McPhail sounded a note of caution. He said there were also legitimate arguments in favour of the Government's model, including higher costs under a gross tariff due to the need to install an expensive metering system.

Government spokesman Dan Ward said Victoria's legislation, to be introduced before the end of the year, would be one of the most generous in Australia. Queensland and South Australia both pay 44 cents a kilowatt-hour for surplus energy only. The ACT pays 59 cents using a gross model.

Emissions cuts won't run deep: analyst

Sydney Morning Herald
Friday 26/9/2008 Page: 22

AN ENERGY analyst has contradicted dire warnings from the sector about the ramifications of a carbon emissions trading scheme and said it will pose little threat to Woodside's $29 billion liquefied natural gas project at Browse. Woodside, with the rest of the sector, has lobbied for Government assistance to cope with the introduction of any scheme and said earlier in the year that without compensation it would have to reduce spending on Browse. But an energy analyst for JPMorgan, Mark Greenwood, said even if LNG prices halved, the likely costs of carbon trading were not enough to stop the project.

"Based on our estimate of economics for Browse. we cannot fathom why the [emissions trading scheme] alone would prevent the Browse project from being pursued vigorously by Woodside," he said in a note to investors. Operating costs could more than double in a "bearish" scenario, with carbon priced at $50 a tonne and oil fetching $US50 a barrel, but the project's internal rate of return would still be economic at 13 per cent, he said.

LNG prices reflect movements in the oil price - which is now over $US100 a barrel - and $50 a tonne for carbon is at the upper end of the cuts suggested by the Federal Government's climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut. Woodside's chief executive, Don Voelte, is one of the most vocal critics of the proposed scheme. After the publication of a green paper on the subject in July, which did not give the sector protective assistance, Mr Voelte said Woodside would "dramatically reduce the spending [on Browse] in 2009 and beyond".

Mr Greenwood estimated Woodside's earnings per share would decrease 0.5 per cent under Professor Garnaut's recommendation of a $20 a tonne carbon price from 2010. The company posted an 86 per cent increase in profits to $1 billion in the first half of the year. Mr Greenwood's estimates contrast with economic modelling commissioned by the industry. A study by Concept Economics that was published this week said a 10 per cent reduction in carbon emissions - which equates to a carbon price of $34.50 a tonne - would cut the LNG sector's output by 26 per cent in 2020.

The industry has argued that higher costs in Australia will take LNG projects offshore. But recent events suggest players are unperturbed by the prospect of cuts in emissions. This week Chevron lodged plans for an LNG project of up to 25 million tonnes a year on the Pilbara coast, and up to five projects are planned in Queensland's coal seam gas sector. The carbon dioxide at Browse is thought to be almost double that in Queensland's LNG fields.

Being green should be easy

Herald Sun
Friday 26/9/2008 Page: 36

FAMILIES who retro-fit homes to make them more energy efficient should get help from the Federal Government, a sustainable building group says. And developers should get tax breaks for boosting energy efficiency in new homes, the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council says. Its climate-change task group chairman, David Parken, said retro-fitting homes would save struggling families money on power bills and cut carbon emissions by about 10 per cent and the cost of carbon permits by 14 per cent.

He said there were still two million homes without proper insulation and it was time for the Federal Government to intervene. ASBEC's ideas could reduce emissions by 52 million tonnes a year by 2030 and help save about $38 billion a year by 2050, he said. The building sector accounts for about 23 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. ASBEC is also arguing for a scheme to make energy efficiency a tradeable asset.

Mr Parken said that ASBEC's ideas could complement the Government's promised $90 million green-building fund. Mr Parken, also the chief executive of the Australian Institute of Architects, said poor people could be first to get help retrofitting homes. The Housing Industry Association's Victorian executive director Robert Harding said encouraging people to make homes more efficient would dwarf savings from new housing. Also, tax breaks would encourage more efficiency in building design and planning, he said.

has been a tax bonanza for all levels of government for several decades. There's room to look at tax concessions," Mr Harding said. The CSIRO has said it would build and monitor a new zero-emissions four bedroom house as a prototype for other homes. The State Government will provide $12 million for new sustainable building programs, including giving $6 million to four Victorian communities to showcase low-emission housing.

Greenhouse emissions rise by 2pc a year

Canberra Times
Friday 26/9/2008 Page: 3

Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising by about 2 per cent a year, according to international research conducted partly by the CSIRO. A CSIRO carbon specialist who spearheaded the research, Pep Canadell, said Australia was unique as a developed country that had rapidly growing emission levels. "Every year of continuing growth makes the future reduction requirement even steeper," Dr Canadell said.

Climate change adviser Ross Garnaut has called for Australia to cut emissions by 10 per cent from 2000 levels within 12 years. Dr Canadell said Australia would have to start cutting emissions by 1.5 per cent a year to achieve that target. The research venture, titled the Global Carbon Project, found global emissions were growing at almost four times the rate they had been before 2000.

Paul Fraser, of the CSIRO's marine and atmospheric research division, said emissions were now growing by 3.5 per cent annually. Dr Fraser said that during the 1990s they rose by 1 per cent a year. He cited the Kyoto process as one factor in Australia's unique status as a developed country where emissions continued to rise. Other developed nations had been told to cut their emissions but Australia was allowed to increase emissions by 8 per cent.

Bank's energy plan

Age
Friday 26/9/2008 Page: 4

Investec, the South African investment bank, intends to develop more than $2 billion of wind-power projects in Australia to tap a government program encouraging increased use of renewable energy.

The bank won planning approval this week for a $700 million venture in Western Australia and is seeking clearance for a $210 million project in Victoria, said Mark Headland, responsible for renewable energy developments at the bank's Australian unit. Those would be followed by a larger project, costing at least $1.2 billion, in Queensland, he said.

The Federal Government has pledged to introduce a target to increase use of renewable energy to 20% of electricity supplies by 2020 to tackle global warming. Conergy AG, Origin Energy and Mitsui & Co are among companies seeking to gain from the clean-energy ruling, which should ensure revenue for wind and solar projects that otherwise may not be profitable.

The Government has set a timetable of having its renewable energy target legislated by the middle of next year. It proposes to aim for an extra 45,000 gigawatt-Hours of renewable energy supply by 2020, which, with existing supply of about 15,000 gigawatt-hours, will take 2020 use to 60,000 gigawatt-hours.

"We're very excited about the Government's impending 20% renewables target; it's what drives our interest in becoming involved in these projects," Mr Headland said. "The key to the process is obviously the market support implicit in the regulations that will underpin the target," he said. Investec would probably start detailed design work on the 270-megawatt Collgar project, about 295 kilometres east of Perth, in the first quarter of next year, Mr Headland said.

The project will produce enough electricity to power about 160,000 homes. Similar work should get under way on the 43-turbine Oaklands Hill wind farm south of Glenthompson in western Victoria about the same time, depending on approval. The two projects, Investec's first wind energy ventures in Australia, may start operating in late 2010, Mr Headland said. The Coopers Gap project, about 180 kilometres north west of Brisbane, will involve as many as 250 turbines and may start up in early to mid- 2011, Mr Headland said.

Missed opportunity: Renewable energy to provide financial bailout

Clean Energy Council
3 October 2008

NATIONAL: Industry today applauded the Council of Australian Government's (COAG) agreement to implement a national energy efficiency strategy by December 2008. The timetable is achievable and will clear the way for billions of dollars of investment in our transition to a low carbon economy.

However the Clean Energy Council noted that the lack of reported discussion on both the renewable energy target and a nationally consistent gross feed-in tariff signalled a missed opportunity to quickly secure Australia's clean energy future.

General Manager-Policy, Rob Jackson said: "Securing a robust renewable energy industry in Australia is the surest insurance for our economic security". "Industry is waiting for the sign off on policies to rapidly expand production throughout Australia's metropolitan and regional areas, providing jobs, growth and economic stimulation right when the country needs it most," Mr Jackson said.

A smooth transition to a low carbon economy will be achieved through ensuring a powerful policy framework that includes:

• a substantial energy efficiency effort that will lower energy demand;
• significant increases in renewable energy generation to 20% by 2020 through increasing the target and introducing nationally consistent gross feed in tariffs;
• increased funding towards research and development of renewable energy solutions; and
• reducing any barriers to transition.

"The carbon pollution reduction scheme is the cornerstone of our climate change policy; however it will only succeed with these complementary measures," Mr Jackson said.

The Clean Energy Council is looking forward to working with the Council of Australian Governments on the national climate change strategy and other key energy policies. COAG is due to hold its next meeting in Canberra on 17 November 2008.

Waste, so want not for energy

Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday 23/9/2008 Page: 30

AN international "green energy" company is offering councils technology to turn solid waste or sewage sludge into pellets which, rather than burnt, can be used to produce a synthetic gas with similar properties to natural gas. Global Nrg Ltd will design, fund, build and run waste-to-energy plants, which it claims eliminate landfill and the resulting greenhouse gas, at no cost to councils apart from the normal tipping fees.

The company sorts rubbish mechanically, selling the plastics, metals and other recyclables, and turning the residue into fuel pellets, which are converted to gas to make electricity or used as fuel in kilns. The gas can be used in producing ethanol, biodiesel and jet fuel. "There is no commercial risk to a council doing away with landfill and eliminating greenhouse gas," the president of Global Nrg, Mike Bartlett, said.

The company also "mines" landfills. "As close as we can estimate there are some 500 active landfills and some 1200 closed landfills in Australia. These landfills contain literally millions of tonnes of potential feedstock for energy via pelletisation, which could be used to provide a minimum of 40 per cent of Australia's power needs with green electricity for years to come.

"The wind does not always blow, nor the sun shine and water does not always flow, but as long as there is mankind on Earth there will be waste, so unlike solar, wind and hydro power, waste-to-energy is the only renewable resource that can support base load to the power grid," Mr Bartlett said.

A Canadian pelletising plant has been built in Toronto and plants have been ordered for New York and other US cities. "In China we are building 1200 waste-to-energy plants for the Chinese Government to supply green electricity," he said. Another company is applying technology to capture greenhouse gases, at the Macarthur Resource Recovery Park at Narellan in southwest Sydney, "at minimal extra cost to the local community".

There, WSN Environmental Services handles waste from Camden, Campbelltown, Wollondilly and Wingecarribee councils. Its Ecolibrium facility sells the recyclables, captures some of the methane emissions to produce energy to power its operations, plus the equivalent of 1700 homes, and produces more water than it uses by extracting water from waste and harvesting stormwater.

"The cost-benefit scenario could improve even further for councils when the carbon pollution reduction scheme comes into play and a dollar figure is put on emissions from waste," a WSN spokesman, Aaron Findlay, said. WSN has opened another methane project at its Eastern Creek landfill, which will produce enough energy for 5000 homes.

Shadow over solar power removed

Canberra Times
Wednesday 24/9/2008 Page: 5

Researchers at Australian National University have devised a new technology that stops moving shadows "cannibalising" solar cells and eating into generated energy. But the breakthrough technology - which could cut the cost of solar energy by half - will be commercialised and manufactured offshore in the United States and China. Although it could cut the cost of solar energy for many Australian households, it may be years before the new system is available here.

The technology marks another world first for Professor Andrew Blakers and the ANU sustainable energy systems team that developed solar sliver-cell technology. As their name suggests, sliver cells are wafer-thin cells which dramatically cut the size and cost of photovoltaic panels by using less silicon to generate energy.

Professor Blakers said, "Moving shadows can be a serious problem with systems that use solar concentrator cells. If a shadow from a stick, a leaf or a bit of bird poop falls across one cell in a string of cells, it can reduce the energy generated by that string of cells to zero." The electricity voltage bands run along the string of cells, with the level of energy produced "set by the worst- or lowest-performing cell in the string."

If a shadow falls across one cell, others "can gang up on it", with the result being an expensive - and potentially dangerous - rooftop solar system blow-out. "You'd get a red glow, you'd see a puff of stroke coming out and you'd have to replace that whole string of cells." Improved shadow tolerance has been one of the holy grails of international solar research and the global solar market, and the ANU research team has already attracted interest - and financial support - from the US and China for its breakthrough technology.

The ANU system, described by Professor Blakers as "a simple but incredibly useful piece of technology", can maintain power even when shadows fall across a number of solar cells. The ANU has teamed tip with scientists from China's Tianjin University - which has the country's biggest engineering faculty - and Chromastui, a start-up company from California - to develop new and cheaper roof-mounted solar trough concentrator systems.

The Federal Government has contributed $1.8 million to the joint venture under its Asia-Pacific Partnership scheme to promote cleaner climate-adapted technology. A test array of eight solar concentrator troughs was installed on the roof of Bruce Hall at the ANU in 2005. The troughs are like long, curved mirrors that focus the sun's rays on to photovoltaic cells, producing solar electricity, hot water and air conditioning.

The new, smaller and cheaper, shadow-tolerant rooftop solar system will be manufactured in California and either China or India. The aim is to make solar energy more affordable and the system could eventually sell for under $1000 - but, according to Professor Blakers, not in Australia where the uptake of solar photovoltaic systems to date is "less than 1 per cent of the photovoltaics that went into Germany last year".

CSIRO battery to run world's cars

Canberra Times
Wednesday 24/9/2008 Page: 3

Cars across the United States, Japan and Thailand will soon be powered by a world-first CSIRO lowemissions technology that cuts the cost of hybrid-electric vehicles by 70 per cent. But Australia may have to wait until this home-grown green technology arrives in imported cars, unless local car manufacturers express an interest in buying the battery to power hybrid cars.

The UltraBattery, invented by a Melbourne-based CSIRO team led by engineer Lan Trieu Lam, is being hailed as a key breakthrough that will significantly reduce global greenhouse emissions by making electric cars and other vehicles more affordable. CSIRO's Energy Transformed Flagship director John Wright said, "It's really something special.

"It's quite a remarkable technology, and it's generating a lot of interest." Earlier this week, the world's biggest independent battery maker, the giant US manufacturer East Penn, signed an international commercialisation and distribution agreement with the Japanese company involved in building and testing the battery prototypes. The agreement will see the CSIRO UltraBattery distributed by East Penn across the US, Canada and Mexico, while Japan's Furukawa Battery Company will market the technology in Japan and Thailand.

Described by Dr Wright as "a lead-acid battery with a few interesting new tricks to it", the UltraBattery combines a conventional lead-acid car battery with high-power electrodes. The revolutionary design is 70 per cent cheaper than current batteries used to power hybrid vehicles and delivers 50 per cent more power than conventional batteries. It also lasts four times longer.

Recent tests at the Millbrook test circuit in Britain - Europe's top testing ground for new car innovations - used a Honda Insight as a test vehicle. with the CSIRO hybrid battery powering the car through 160,000km without a hitch. Dr Wright jumped in for the final 5km run, and described the experience as "a real buzz, I can tell you".

Also watching the battery go through its paces at the test track were several members of the US Congress who suggested to Dr Wright that "getting the battery out in the market should be high on the US government's agenda". But will it be used in Australia, where greenhouse emissions from transport are increasing by 27 percent. "Well, that would be nice wouldn't it?" Dr Wright said. "We'd like to see it used in all major brands of cars, and that's probably how it will eventually come to Australia.

"It's not licensed here yet for car manufacture, but could be here within a few years if we receive an expression of interest for manufacture and distribution of the technology in this region." The UltraBattery can also be used to improve the performance and energy storage capacity of wind farms, and has been successfully tested on turbines at CSIRO's Energy Transformed flagship headquarters in Newcastle.

"When you see the turbine blades turning smoothly, it's quite deceptive as they're not generating a steady output of electricity," he said. "There are a lot of fluctuations - what we call electrical noise - but by putting in a battery we can shave off the peaks and spikes and smooth out the current quite considerably."

A Danish lesson for Tasmanian communities

Hobart Mercury
Tuesday 23/9/2008 Page: 25

THERE'S this island, off the coast of a continent, where winters are bracing - some would say cold. There are some who believe the island, even with its small population. can be self-sufficient in renewable energy, producing enough not just to keep warm but also to export to the mainland. Does this sound vaguely familiar? Well, while Tasmania is often in my thoughts, this time I'm thinking of a much smaller island called Samso, whose 4000 inhabitants have achieved astonishing success in their quest to live within their means and give something back to their planet.

Samso, part of Denmark, is a low lying island (highest point less than 100m above sea level) some 20km off the coast of the peninsula of Jutland. It has no rushing streams for hydro power, but it has plenty of wind. In the raid-1990s the good citizens of Samso saw the potential for wind energy, supplemented by rooftop solar panels and locally-made biofuels, to give them the energy they needed to turn off their oil-fired plants.

Then they set about making their dream a reality, raising the equivalent of about $100 million to install the wind turbines and other plant and equipment they needed. They met all construction costs from their own resources. It has to be said that they enjoy some advantages over inhabitants of Tasmania. Denmark's per-capita income is about a third higher than Australia's, so the people of Samso had a much greater individual capacity than we would to snake a tidy contribution to the kitty.

They also had the benefit of a Danish government subsidy which meets up to half the cost to consumers of renewable energy such as wind and solar, plus some incentive from the European Union. But remember, we're talking about a mere 4000 people, a tiny fraction of Tasmania's population of over 495,000.

A US journalist commented to a Samso local that the island's success was a classic example of "thinking globally, acting locally". The resident responded that with the global picture so bleak, he found it more comforting to "think local, act local". Whatever our global perspective, Samso emphasises for us and the rest of the world the importance of local action. And this brings to mind the potential role of local and regional government - as yet far from realised in Australia - in preparing communities for a tougher future.

There is already plenty of evidence that Tasmania's local authorities are in for a big shake-up as rising global temperatures begin to affect our own weather and climate. With a likelihood that our populated areas will experience lower rainfall, water supply and wildfire control will become increasingly significant local issues. More severe weather events will mean more wind damage and higher stormwater flows, and rising sea levels will put coastal services at risk.

If these threats aren't currently a concern to local councils, it's high time they were. There's clearly much to be done to help communities adapt to a changed environment, in the process reducing the risk of potentially crippling legal action against authorities. But the biggest challenge remains to reduce our rising contribution to this gigantic mess. If we in this island community can take some lessons from the Samso experience - even if the world remains in a quagmire - we'll feel a whole lot better.

Peter Boyer is a Hobart-based science writer and a presenter for Al Gore's Climate Project.

peterboyer@southwind com.au

Google's smart power

Australian
Tuesday 23/9/2008 Page: 38

General Electric, the worlds third-largest company, is working with Google to develop a so-called smart electrical grid that can make better use of power derived from renewable energy. The companies will jointly lobby US lawmakers and collaborate on technologies to make alternative energy sources, such as wind, geothermal and solar, commercially successful.

The partnership was unveiled last week at a conference at Google's offices in Mountain View, California. With a "smart" grid, people would be able to monitor individual energy use, sell energy back to utilities from electric car batteries and program appliances to turn on at times when electricity is least expensive, Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick says.

GE and Google will focus first on transmission capacity planning to enable a large-scale deployment of renewable energy generation in the US. They also plan to develop plug-in vehicle related technologies, including software and services that allow utilities to integrate the vehicles into the grid.

Landfill has power to quell controversy

Canberra Times
Monday 22/9/2008 Page: 7

Far from stirring tip controversy, a methane gas-fired power generator at Mugga Lane landfill is likely preventing it. Three powerful generators across the road from the proposed Tuggeranong power station burn 1800 cubic metres of methane gas an hour, 24 hours-a-day. Since 1999, the plant has been generating enough electricity to power 3000 homes, reducing greenhouse gases from the landfill by up to 87 per cent.

Plant operator Martin Janota said residents in surrounding suburbs might be unaware of its existence but would not miss the smell if the methane gas wasn't burnt. "The houses over the hill, they'd be whingeing for miles," he said. Operated by Energy Development Limited, the Mugga Lane power plant with 3.45MW capacity generated 23.8 gigawatt-hours of power last financial year. Spokesman for Canberrans for Power Station Relocation Simon Byrne said he was aware of the Mugga Lane generator, which was so small it was not an issue of community concern.

The group is opposed to the Canberra Technology City gas-fired generation plant, which was scaled down in May from 210MW to 28MW after an outcry from community groups. EDL, which operates landfill gas-generation sites around the world, also has a small plant at the West Belconnen tip. Gas from rotting garbage is collected from production wells drilled into the landfill.

Mugga Lane's plant employs two full-time staff and has three gas engine generators, each powered by V1G diesel engines converted for gas and three stacks. EDL spokesman Chris Murray said carbon dioxide emitted from Mugga Lane, equivalent to one car's emissions, was 20 times lower than the methane gas it was taking out of the atmosphere. The Federal Opposition is calling for an audit of all landfill sites across Australia after residents in an outer Melbourne suburb evacuated homes when dangerous methane gas leaked from a disused rubbish tip.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said a national inquiry was needed to prevent a repeat of the Cranbourne housing estate planning debacle, but the Government says states and territories are responsible for landfill sites. ACT Territory and Municipal Services said numerous old landfill sites across the ACT were not required by the Environmental Protection Agency to be monitored for methane gas levels. None were near houses and if a housing development was proposed it would be referred to the agency.

Zen's peace of mind for Vic homes

Adelaide Advertiser
Tuesday 23/9/2008 Page: 36

Adelaide company Zen Home Energy Systems will provide an innovative sustainable energy system in regional Victoria, and hopes to replicate the project across the rest of the state and South Australia. Zen Home Energy Systems will fit 300 homes in the Towong Shire with the company's fully integrated solar grid connect home energy system and solar hot-water system. Chief executive Richard Turner said the initiative would also get the local community involved.

"We're not just installing solar energy systems in homes and walking away; we're creating a new industry and education program within the community," he said. "Regional centres constantly battle against lowering population levels through losing youth and skilled workers to large cities.

"This initiative will combat that trend by engaging local tradespeople and developing new expertise in the region." Zen is now training local electricians and plumbers to install and maintain the systems, while working with local builders to help them integrate the systems into construction plans.

The company is also running education programs at local schools about renewable energy. Mr Turner said he hoped the scheme would be adopted by other regional towns and plans to offer the program in the Barossa, the Riverland, the South-East and Port Lincoln. "We can see the potential for other shires to get involved with similar projects," he said. "I'm keen to meet with local community leaders to show how the Victorian program can be replicated here in South Australia."