Islands in the Sun for Eco Kinetics
Capturing the sun’s brilliant rays and powering the entire Polynesian island of Tuvalu is just one of the contracts this solar company has in the pipeline. It will also supply solar to a number of schools in Fiji. The Gold Coast company is about to take renewable energy solutions to the South Pacific, Middle East, US, Brazil and China.
By Jason Oxenbridge in Gold Coast Business October issue:
ACHEIVING 900 per cent growth in the last 12 months is just the start for solar energy specialist Eco Kinetics. The company has already powered 3000 Queensland homes after clinching the State Government Solar Homes contract last year.
As that initiative comes to an end, the company is about to open an office in every Australian state and take renewable energy solutions to the South Pacific, Middle East, US, Brazil and China.
Eco Kinetics chief executive Edwin Cywinski will propel his company toward revenues of around $50 million in the next 12 months as developing nations seek clean renewable energy solutions.
Capturing the sun’s brilliant rays and powering the entire Polynesian island of Tuvalu is just one of the contracts the solar company has in the pipeline. It will also supply solar to a number of schools in Fiji, funded by the European Union.
“Certainly we have had very fast growth but we are in very dynamic, exciting markets,” says Cywinski.
“Growth has come from a combination of exports and the domestic market. We have attracted quite a number of domestic and residential customers. We have duplicated that business model in Victoria where we have set up a subsidiary and we have a similar operation in the Northern Territory.
“The South Pacific has been the initial export market with our systems. We are working on a large solar system for an island in Tuvalu to provide the power for the island and have signed a contract for systems in 38 remote schools in Fiji. We are also shortlisted for projects in Tonga.
“In these nations, energy costs are very high. We are eagerly awaiting policies in Australia to take effect so that larger systems can be implemented here also. It now makes perfect sense for small medium sized enterprises to tap into the Queensland Solar Tariff. You can buy a 30kw system, there’s a significant payback on that and it’s certainly worth doing.”
The German influence
Cywinski was on the verge of something very exciting in his native Germany in the mid-1980s and the relationships developed back then have proved crucial 20 years later. The inverters for the solar systems are manufactured in Germany. The panels are made in China, while the safety glass is made in Australia, exclusively for Eco Kinetics in this part of the world.
“Having worked in the renewable energy in Germany, I was always going to go back to that and I kept an eye on Australia. I thought the time was right, there’s a lot of sun in Queensland,” he says of his move to Australia in 2007, after spending 15 years in New Zealand.
“I actually took a couple of guys from Germany over to China, when I was choosing a panel supplier. I wanted to make 100 per cent sure that we had something that was quality. I was involved in renewable energy in Germany in the mid 1980s and it was a very young industry. There were a handful of guys that were in that space, they are now the leaders in a very highly regarded industry. So that gives us a huge advantage that I can ring up CEOs of companies that employ 12,000 people when back in the day they were working out of their garages. It gives me access to raw technology, products and assistance.”
Eco Kinetics business development manager Rick McElhinney, says in an industry that relies on experience at the coalface, Eco Kinetics is far from an overnight success venture.
“Edwin’s history going back to Germany and his knowledge of the renewable energy systems has actually added a lot of value and a lot of confidence in the company to do things that a lot of Australian companies wouldn’t pursue, because they don’t have the experience,” he says.
International expansion
The key will be how the outfit harnesses its imminent rapid expansion. Fostering organic growth, its systems and engineering finesse is being sought world-wide by simultaneous projects, while domestic demand is also healthy.
Having just signed up a 100kw system for a multi-storey building in Sydney, it is also tendering for projects in the Northern Territory, ’one of the prime locations for solar in the world’ and Victoria on a combination of government funded and commercial projects.
“We’re not acquiring. At the moment we will continue with organic growth. The market is there,” says Cywinski.
“We play it very safe and we know what our capabilities and what our limits are. It’s never boring, but we are lucky that we have managed to find the right mix of capabilities and management team.”
Export channels are pumping and the ink is drying on a deal with the developers of The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. The Palm is an extravagant artificial island created using land reclamation by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government. It is one of three islands called The Palm Islands which extend into the Persian Gulf, increasing Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 520 km.
“We are also working with solar farm developers in the states — $US150 million a pop. It’s not small stuff, it’s of large commercial scale,” says Cywinski.
“We have just been approached by a fairly large operation in the Middle East, who is particularly interested in our engineering skills. We have a very strong engineering team, it’s a strategic advantage.
The components of the renewable energy sector you can buy and put them together and make them work, but making it work reliably is the challenge. That’s the market that we have been asked to participate in, purely on those skills.”
Powered by the Queensland sun
But it was under the radiant Queensland sun where the Eco Kinetics story started to glisten.
McElhinney says that although Queensland is lagging behind South Australia and Western Australia when it comes to enacting change at government level, progress is being made.
“It’s still evolving, it’s jumping all over the place,” he says.
“It has taken a long, long time for the scheme to pass in the Senate. The fact that they (State Government) took the initiative to do the solar homes project at least put us on the map and we have delivered on that project.
“We are comfortably on track in serving those customers and are now inviting the next round of customers to register with us for the Solar Credit Scheme. The customers want to do it, they want the systems, but it has been very frustrating with the delays in government to pass it in the Senate and to take effect. There have been huge delays for the whole industry and now it has been kick-started again.”
State Environment Minister Kate Jones, says in order for the Bligh government to combat climate change, strong partnerships must be nurtured.
“The government has recently announced our new climate change policy with a $196 million investment where we will be actively going out engaging with business and the community to say, ‘what are the new things that we can do to reduce our carbon emissions here in Queensland?’
“To me it deals with the work we are doing and encourages all Queenslanders to get behind new initiatives to reduce their carbon emissions in their homes – we’ve got the ClimateSmart Home Service, with which we almost have 100,000 Queensland homes that have taken advantage of this service and are right now reducing their carbon emissions.”
Increasing market share
While competitors are racing to secure market share, Eco Kinetics are exploring new methods to ensure their systems stack up in cost without sacrificing quality.
“There are competitors left, right and centre but no-one in Australia has been able to match our prices. When we took on the Queensland Solar Homes project we went 35 per cent below the average market price. We are still sitting well below the average market price, at least 10 per cent,” says Cywinski.
“We have extremely aggressive supply chain management. We have spent time and effort finding cost-effective solutions including redesigning and designing mounting systems locally.”
Eco Kinetics is celebrating its latest partnership as the Australasian distributor for Swedish company Climatewell’s air-conditioning units that run 100 per cent on solar energy. There’s a brilliant paradox — powering a device using the sun to repel the heat derived from the same source.
With commercial businesses spending an estimated 50 per cent of power bills on air-conditioning, Eco Kinetics has become the coolest kid on the eco-tech block.
Source: www.goldcoastbusinessnews.com.au and www.eco-kinetics.com
The same October issue of Gold Coast Business also had an article by Matthew Ogg on Ken Hickson and his book:
CLIMATE change is a complex topic with so many buzz words it can leave many business leaders feeling out of their depth, but that could soon change as a Queensland consultant has written an encyclopaedic guide The ABC of Carbon.
Author Ken Hickson says The ABC of Carbon is about bringing together the plethora of writings on the subject into one place, as a more digestible way of understanding the science, what carbon is and how it can be used to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“It’s not a doom and gloom book, it’s not painting a dark and dreary picture, but it’s putting positively what businesses can be doing to be sustainable,” says Hickson.
“I have a strong belief in using the case study approach, so the book has dozens of examples of what companies are doing to be more sustainable, to use less water, to produce less waste.”
Hickson says the Gold Coast will be vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but there are many opportunities now for ecotourism and a good focus on sustainability, with the upcoming Carbon Market Expo.
“The Gold Coast is very reliant on tourism and the global tourism industry is very conscious of the threats of climate change on destinations, facilities and services, but there are great opportunities for ecotourism.
“The Gold Coast has a very high percentage of buildings located on canal, coast and low-lying land that is vulnerable to flooding, and it is also a rapidly growing large urban centre. Reliance on private cars and demands on existing infrastructure need to be cut.
“It’s good to see the Gold Coast is the national location for a cooperative research centre (CRC) for tourism sustainability, as well as having the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility at Griffith University’s campus.”
Hickson’s book includes case studies of energy companies like Origin, Ergon, AGL as well as other big companies in the mining and resource sector, such as Xstrata with their coal seam methane power station.
“There’s a strong focus on Queensland, but you have to look at global situations and local situations to cover the full breadth.”
One telling example is of the world’s largest carpet tile manufacturer interface that now targets zero emissions, even as a billion dollar company.
Source: www.goldcoastbusinessnews.com.au

Emissions Up in the Air
The Qantas chairman and former mining executive Leigh Clifford has doubts about Australia rushing emissions legislation through prior to an international summit later this year, while the head of IATA says the most important outcome from Copenhagen will be agreement to treat aviation as a sector under the leadership of ICAO and working with industry to effect real reductions in CO2 from airlines.
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer in The Australian (23 October 2009):
QANTAS chairman Leigh Clifford has warned that speculators will be lining up to take advantage of the planned emissions trading system and travellers will end up bearing the brunt of the impact on the aviation industry.
Mr Clifford said only the naive would not imagine that “some clever people” would be focused on the trading aspect of the ETS, as opposed to the carbon reduction aspect.
He said industry wanted certainty and clarity about the cost of carbon, but the potential existed for it to jump around quite considerably.
“Some clever people are going to be focused on what to do about this — salivating, in fact,” he said.
The Qantas chairman and former mining executive has doubts about rushing legislation through prior to an international summit in Copenhagen later this year.
He said it was not enough to be aware of what was happening in the EU. Australia also needed to know what was happening in countries such as China and the US.
“No one’s been able to convince me as to why we need all this all buttoned up when we go into Copenhagen,” he said.
“The community as a whole said we ought to do something and, for better or worse, it’s been decided that emissions trading ought to be the way.
“All I would say is my personal view is we need to think carefully about how we do this and we ought to be cognisant of what others are doing.”
He was also not sure that the public understood the impact an ETS would have on airlines.
“I’d have to say that I’m not sure that the public at large understands that when you go through and put a price on carbon for the understandable reasons we’re trying to do that — someone’s going to have to pay for that,” he said.
Although people talked about the contribution to climate change of airlines, Mr Clifford said airlines were essential in Australia for moving people efficiently, both internationally and domestically.
He said Qantas’s focus was on energy efficiency, looking at both the way it flew planes and buying new, more-efficient aircraft. This included improved energy efficiency per passenger from new aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787.
“We are doing our bit,” he said. “As an industry we’re looking at biofuels, algae, etc, but you know these are long-term issues.
“And we are investing in very fuel-efficient planes, not withstanding our depreciation schedules are different compared with some overseas airlines.”
Mr Clifford also echoed calls by chief executive Alan Joyce for improvements in the efficiency of the air navigation system.
This was not just important in Australia but also in Europe and North America, so there was not excessive travel time between point to point, and meant that governments needed to invest in the system.
While he did not want to be drawn into an argument on the differences between government and opposition views on the ETS, he believed it was absurd that a price would be placed on carbon on a Perth-Melbourne flight, but not on one between Perth and Bali.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Date: 23 October 2009
Global Sectoral Approach – A Global Framework for Aviation and Climate Change
New Delhi – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reiterated its call for a global sectoral approach led by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to handle aviation’s emissions in the post-Kyoto period.
“We need a global solution that can encompass all of aviation—incorporating the differing situations of airlines from developed and developing nations. The best hope of this is through ICAO which has a proven track record,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
In a speech to an event jointly hosted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and IATA, Bisignani referred specifically to the effective work of ICAO in handling the introduction of quieter aircraft. “ICAO developed a global framework to deal with noise. The noisiest aircraft were phased out between 1995 and 2002. The global solution took into account the difficult situation of some developing nations with an extension to 2005,” said Bisignani.
The remarks are particularly timely as the global climate change debate is increasingly stalled on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility that underpins the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change in the run-up to climate talks in Copenhagen this December.
At the recent ICAO High Level Meeting on Aviation and Climate Change, governments agreed to continue to address aviation and climate change through ICAO and to work closely with industry. They also laid the foundations to developing a global sectoral approach—a global framework developed through ICAO.
IATA defines such a sectoral approach as:
“Such a global approach would take advantage of the aviation sector’s proactive approach to addressing the issues of climate change. We are the only industry with a united strategy and targets across the whole value chain. These are tougher targets than even our regulators are prepared to administer,” said Bisignani.
Aviation has committed to three sequential targets:
Improving average annual fuel efficiency by 1.5% to 2020
Stabilizing emissions with carbon-neutral growth from 2020
An aspirational goal to cut net emissions in half by 2050, compared to 2005
Bisignani recently met the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to present the industry strategy and targets. In the meeting, the UN Secretary-General commended the aviation industry’s commitment to contribute to the global fight against climate change and encouraged that these commitments be followed by concrete actions. He stressed the importance of addressing emissions from international aviation and shipping if the world is to achieve its goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to a level that avoids dangerous climate change.
Bisignani singled out sustainable biofuels as an example of optimism in future reductions. “The three biggest opportunities for emissions reductions are technology, infrastructure and sustainable biofuels. Of these, sustainable biofuels are the most exciting because for the first time air transport has the possibility of an alternative to traditional jet fuel. Our attention is on camelina, jatropha and algae which do not compete for land or water with food crops but have the potential to reduce our carbon footprint by up to 80%. Because they can be grown in almost any soil condition or in salt water or even waste water they have the potential to create new industries and livelihoods by bringing sustainable energy production jobs to many of the least developed parts of the planet,” said Bisignani.
Four test flights with sustainable biofuels have proven that they meet the technical and safety standards for use in commercial aviation. Moreover, they can be blended with jet fuel and used in today’s aircraft and engines. “Progress is going at a much faster pace than anybody anticipated. Three years ago sustainable biofuels were a dream. Now we expect certification no later than 2011,” said Bisignani.
Bisignani took the opportunity to comment on the EU’s recently announced policy framework for Copenhagen. “The most important development is their explicit support for a global approach through ICAO. They have set some targets which are more political than technical. As such they are neither credible nor achievable with the timelines described,” said Bisignani
“The most important outcome from Copenhagen for aviation will be agreement to treat aviation as a sector under the leadership of ICAO and working with industry. This should be the focus for all governments seeking to effect real reductions in CO2 from the global aviation sector—from India and China to the EU and the US. If not, we face the risk of uncoordinated competitive government taxation that won’t reduce emissions but will be harmful to global economic development,” said Bisignani.
IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.
Source: www.iata.org

Luz Verde: Mexico Sees the Light
The world’s first example of a household energy efficiency project gets under way in Mexico under the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Cool nrg Executive Chairman Nic Frances is excited about the outcomes of Luz Verde (which means Green Light) as 30% of the Mexican population will benefit from the program.
World First: Programmatic Carbon Trading for Tackling Climate Change and Poverty Reduction
Luz Verde: Mass scale emissions reduction to benefit the environment and Mexico
Cool nrg, a global organisation based in Australia, is delivering a world first partnership initiative in Mexico this month that will see carbon trading fund a mass scale energy efficiency program to benefit the environment and Mexican households.
Cool nrg’s partners in this ground breaking project include three Dutch companies: Eneco Energy Trade B.V., Philips Lighting, ING; and four Mexican partners: Coppel, Comex, Fundacion Televisa and the Consejo de la Comunicacion. The Mexican Federal Government through the Ministry of Environment is also supporting this commercial venture.
To be launched by the Mexican Government, the program Luz Verde (‘Green Light’) will see Cool nrg and its project partners give away the first one million of a total 30 million energy saving lights to low and middle income households.
Cool nrg Executive Chairman Nic Frances is excited about the outcomes of Luz Verde.
“We believe 30 per cent of the Mexican population will benefit from the program, with four lights provided to each family. This will save low-income Mexican households US$165 million in energy bills annually once the 30 million lights are distributed and installed.
“As a poverty alleviation measure, the program is around four times the annual USAID development cooperation budget to Mexico” he said.
The project is the world’s first example of a household energy efficiency project under the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which allows companies in industrialised nations to finance emissions reduction in developing countries.
While there are over 1,800 projects registered with the CDM, Luz Verde is a first under programmatic CDM. Unlike traditional CDM, programmatic CDM means the program can be rolled out across a wide area multiple times, resulting in large scale greenhouse gas abatement.
Luz Verde will cut carbon emissions by over 7 million tonnes over ten years.
The saved carbon is traded as carbon credits into industrialised countries where companies and Governments have emission reduction targets.
The benefit to Mexico is also significant. “The Government will save US$200 million in reduced household electricity subsidy payments each year” Mr Frances said.
Cool nrg’s partnership programs address the problems of poverty, inequality and environmental sustainability while still enabling a commercial return.
“Mexico shows that we have an approved model for domestic energy efficiency under the CDM we can now take to other developing countries,” said Mr Frances.
Luz Verde partners
Guido Dubbeld, Managing Director at Eneco Energy Trade B.V, said: “Our partnership in Luz Verde is an outstanding example of our own innovative approach and long term view on the carbon market. This project showcases top quality CDM, combining environmental and social merits. We are very pleased to be part of this project
Eneco Energy Trade B.V. is a business unit of Dutch energy company Eneco Holding N.V. and is responsible for purchasing and trading energy. Its trading activities cover electricity, gas, coal, oil, freight, biomass, bio-fuels, emissions and related products. Eneco Energy Trade B.V. is the link between the market and the (co-) production assets of Eneco Holding N.V. It also acts as an independent trading party for parties without trading capacity.
Eneco Holding N.V. is one of the three leading utilities in the Netherlands with a strong focus on renewable energy. It follows an integrated distribution strategy and focuses on production, transmission, trading, supply and metering of energy (electricity, gas and heat) and related products and services. In total the energy company serves approximately two million industrials and households. Eneco Holding N.V. employs approximately 5,500 people and its head office is located in Rotterdam. For more information about the Carbon Desk of Eneco Energy Trade B.V. visit www.eneco2.com.
Philips sees the environmental challenge – and the sustainability opportunity – as one of a number of important global trends it is responding to. Philips has been vocal and consistently called for a switch to energy efficient lighting bulbs, since it provides a win-win scenario. With the switch, people will save money and immediately contribute to a reduction of energy consumption and carbon emission to combat climate change. Many governments are taking actions, and with this program we enable more people to benefit from the advantages. It is a great opportunity and adds to the difference in climate change we all can make with a simple switch.
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs more than 118,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 26 billion in 2008, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter
Stephen Hibbert, Global Head of Emissions Products at ING Wholesale Banking, said “ING is delighted to be the first bank to fund a project under the United Nations’ programmatic CDM. Social and environmental responsibility is one of four core business principles for ING and our involvement with Luz Verde is a first-class demonstration of the way a financial institution can combine its particular skills and capabilities with those of others to promote sustainable development. “
ING Wholesale Banking, the business banking division of ING Group, has 15,000 employees serving the largest companies and institutions. ING serves clients through its extensive network in the world’s major financial services markets. During 2009, the bank has built a leading position across the whole corporate banking spectrum: Lending, Mergers & Acquisitions, Equity Markets, Equity Capital Markets, Fixed Income and Debt Capital Markets. Visit www.ing-wholesalebanking.nl and www.ingwholesalebanking.com
Cool nrg is a global company, head quartered in Australia, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions through the design, development and delivery of household energy efficiency projects. It was founded in 2007 and has offices in Melbourne, London, Connecticut and Mexico City. Cool nrg’s clients include governments, national and multi-national companies and non-government organisations in developed and developing countries. Cool nrg is the only Australian company delivering programmatic projects under the UN Clean Development Mechanism.
Source: www.coolnrg.com

Solar & Rocks Running Hot

Australia should take a leading role in developing solar energy technology as part of the fight against global warming, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist says, while Tim Boreham is willing to bet the renewable energy sector will remain in vogue, no matter whether the Senate again kyboshes the carbon abatement laws or if December’s climate change summit in Copenhagen generates no more than hot air.

Peter Veness and Cathy Alexander in Sydney Morning Herald (21 October 2009):

Australia should take a leading role in developing solar energy technology as part of the fight against global warming, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist says.
“We need a major (solar) program, a collective program,” the agency’s Fatih Birol told AAP. “Australia has a lot of experience. In solar, Australia can also play a role.”
Speaking from Paris, Dr Birol said “solar energy has a very bright future” along with nuclear power.
He said solar was potentially an easier option because it “enjoys a lot of public acceptance”.
Even with large investments in both solar and nuclear, Dr Birol said the world would still need oil, but he warned it would not last.
“My main motto never changes, the era of low oil prices is over,” he said.
“When the economy recovers, oil prices will recover accordingly. Mid- to long-term we will be experiencing high prices.
“This may be bad news for all of us.”
Australia’s solar industry has had a chequered history, with some researchers and manufacturers heading overseas over the past 15 years due to a perceived lack of federal government support.
An $8,000 rebate for rooftop solar panels was scrapped this year and replaced with a less generous one.
A rebate for remote-area renewable energy projects has also ended, and a program to give grants of up to $50,000 to schools for solar panels and other energy-smart initiatives has been temporarily closed.
The government has promised to spend $1.5 billion on building up to four large-scale solar power farms, although the project may run into trouble due to uncertain investment flows from the private sector.
Just last month, a bid to build the world’s largest solar plant in Victoria was thrown into doubt after the lead company was put in receivership.
The $420 million project, planned by Solar Systems, was to have produced power for about 45,000 houses.
The proposed 154 megawatt power station would have used photovoltaic solar cells to magnify solar energy 500 times and deliver electricity to the national grid by 2013.
Source: www.news.smh.com.au

In the Criterion column of The Australia, Tim Boreham writes (23 October 2009):
WE are willing to bet the renewable energy sector will remain in vogue, no matter whether the Senate again kyboshes the carbon abatement laws or if December’s climate change summit in Copenhagen generates no more than hot air.
That doesn’t mean investors should buy them willy-nilly: there will be more commercial failures than successes. But with the feds poised to carve up $300million of renewable energy grants, it’s time to take notice of the more advanced plays.
In all, 36 companies have applied for a slice of the dough, available under the Renewable Energy Development Program (REDP). While a ministerial spokesbloke knows nothing, at least one applicant, hot-rock play Petratherm (PTR, 38c), says a decision is “imminent”.
According to the departmental guff, individual grants are likely to be between $50m and $100m.
Lest we assume Canberra is frittering away our taxes on no-strings-attached gifts, there are some onerous conditions that would preclude the poorly funded and less advanced.
According to the guidelines, the project has to be “relatively mature and at the stage of commercial demonstration” and has to be bankable. The applicant must be willing to chip in funding on a two for one basis.
Solar power was originally included in a $435m scheme, but was shunted into a wider federal program (REDP is but one of a dazzling array of state and federal programs).
It’s likely the government won’t bet it all on one technology but will spread it across geothermal, wind, biomass and wave energy applicants.
While we stress we don’t have the inside word, Criterion likes the chances of Petratherm and Geodynamics (GDY, 92c), which are the most advanced of the dozen or so listed hot-rock plays.
Geodynamics boasts the Innamincka joint venture (with Origin Energy) in Queensland, where it proposes to build a $275m, 50 megawatt demo plant.
Geodynamics has had trouble with unwanted gases in its well holes and drilling has slowed. In an update this week, the company confirmed its objective of getting to investment decision stage within 18-24 months.
Petratherm’s main project is Paralana in the Flinders Ranges, which is near the Beverley uranium mine, the most likely customer. The project boasts two sugar daddies: TRUenergy and Beach Petroleum.
Petratherm is also poking around Tenerife in the Canary Islands in pursuit of a conventional volcanic project to provide power to a population which surges to 1.5 million in the peak season.
Another interesting applicant is Carnegie Wave (CWE, 25c), which has already pocketed a $12.5m WA grant to develop a 5megawatt facility off Garden Island (the most likely customer is the HMAS Stirling naval base).
Carnegie’s patented CETO technology involves the use of seabed pumps, which is at least a more aesthetic alternative to visible turbines.
Criterion rates Petratherm and Carnegie as speculative buys and Geodynamics a hold. We’ve considered the latter to be overvalued in the past (and Innamincka is a long way from the nearest power grid). But the stock has retreated from a high of $2 and is worth a punt, especially if it pockets a slice of the REDP spoils.
STRICTLY speaking, Ceramic Fuel Cells isn’t a renewable energy stock, but its gas-fired version of so-called “distributed generation” delivers far more efficiency (and less carbon) than coal-fired electricity.
CFC has been a slow-burn story, but is entering a pivotal evolutionary stage as it obtains approvals to market its fuel cell units locally and abroad.
The BlueGen units, about the size of a dishwasher, convert normal gas into electricity, water and heat through a magical process involving layers of zirconia-based cells.
The heat is used to produce hot water. Carbon dioxide is also produced, but about one-third less than the coal-fired equivalent. The BlueGens also use only one-third of the energy relative to produce the same amount of electricity.
Locally, CFC expects to sell the units from next March, at a retail price of between $8000 and $10,000. The likely market are the eco-types who buy solar roof panels, but managing director Brendan Dow claims a superior payback period. A disadvantage is that BlueGen users will miss out on the government rebates available to solar customers.
CFC’s European strategy is different in that it has formed alliances with appliance makers, who build the units using CFC-supplied cells.
Dow says a crucial driver is how the power utilities embrace the concept: once they discover people can produce electricity more cheaply into their own home, there is the potential to cluster households into networks to supply baseload power.
CFC is still what one would politely describe as pre-revenue, but Dow promises “serious” turnover in a year’s time.
CFC lost $42m in 2008-09, including $19.5m impairments. Dow targets break-even cash flow by April 2011.
“The short-term vision is to sell lots of BlueGens and make lots of money,” he says.
CFC’s 8000 shareholders — many of whom are interested in buying a unit themselves — will applaud this charter.
CFC is a speculative buy. There’s potential upside in that CFC is suing a consortium of banks for $25m of losses arising from investing in financial instruments. The claim is backed by ubiquitous litigation funder IMF.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Sex & the Eco-City

As the green movement makes its way into the bedroom, low lighting is a must–to conserve electricity–but so are vegan condoms, organic lubricants and hand-cranked vibrators. Time Magazine says getting it on is getting greener!
Note from the Editor: The cover of my Time Magazine had a sheaf of wheat and a green ribbon around it. The words: The New Green Revolution. But inside was a story on a different way to go green – How to get more eco-friendly between the sheets. Not wanting to offend, but we feel this message needs to get out there! – Ken Hickson
Article by Kathleen Kingsbury in Time Magazine (26 October 2009):
In many ways, choosing a sex toy is not unlike buying a car. Walk into most adult shops, and the new-car smell is undeniable. Salespeople tout motor speed and durability. And then there are emissions to consider.
That’s carbon emissions, of course. As the green movement makes its way into the bedroom, low lighting is a must–to conserve electricity–but so are vegan condoms, organic lubricants and hand-cranked vibrators.
Another big enviro-sex trend: birth control that’s au naturel. Like all good Catholics, my husband and I had to attend church-run marriage prep before we tied the knot last year. I was surprised, however, during the hard sell on natural family-planning (NFP), that this updated version of the rhythm method was being advertised not only as morally correct but also as “organic” and “green.” I was even more surprised when I found out that some of the most popular instructors of NFP–known in secular circles as the Fertility Awareness Method–are non-Catholics who praise it as a means of avoiding both ingesting chemicals and excreting them into rivers and streams.
Nikki Walker, 35, an actress in New York City, stopped taking the Pill because of concerns about the effects of excess estrogen on her body and the environment. “I do yoga every day and eat vegetarian,” she says. “Why wouldn’t I go green in this area of my life?”
Walker recently attended her first Tupperware-style pleasure party, thrown by Oregon-based Earth Erotics, where the goods for sale included organic massage oils and whips made of recycled inner tubes. At a time when Americans are just getting used to prime-time ads for Trojan and K-Y, eco-consumers are learning that most of the personal lubricants in the U.S.–drugstores sold $82 million worth of them last year–contain chemicals found in oven cleaner and antifreeze.
“Our taboos prevent us from having the same consumer-safety conversations that are commonplace when you’re making a toothbrush, sneaker or baby bottle,” says Ethan Imboden, founder of Jimmyjane, a luxury adult-toy maker based in San Francisco. This bashfulness is not helped by the fact that the adult-novelty industry is largely unregulated. “Manufacturers can use whatever they want,” says Imboden. “And they do.”
Case in point: that new-car smell. It may connote nice and clean, but the odor comes from phthalates, which are used to soften plastics in many products, including some sex toys. Like bisphenol A, these compounds are endocrine inhibitors that some studies have linked to premature puberty in girls and low sperm production in boys. Europe and California have already banned certain phthalates.
The search for phthalate-free alternatives helps explain the increase in sales of sex toys made of such materials as stainless steel, mahogany–yes, you read that correctly–and glass. Babeland, a sex shop with locations in Seattle and New York City, saw sales of a stainless-steel toy triple from 2007 to 2008. Sales of glass models rose 85% in the same period. Says Babeland co-founder Claire Cavanah: “People want high-quality, renewable materials that they know will last.” (And in the case of Pyrex toys, that they know can be safely warmed in the microwave.)
Babeland sells four times as much of its Naked organic lubricant as it does of a national synthetic brand. “It just goes to show that if they have choices, customers pick more eco-friendly and natural options,” Cavanah says.
The Roman Catholic Church is catching on to the organic trend. “People pay $32 for eye cream because they’re told it is good for them and the planet,” says Jessica Marie Smith, who repackaged the NFP program at the diocese of Madison, Wis. “We figured we could do the same with NFP.”
NFP detects ovulation by monitoring a woman’s temperature and the amount of cervical mucus. But this process is not 100% accurate. And several studies on climate change note that the best way to protect the planet is to have fewer children. “Around the world, more than 40% of pregnancies are unintended, and full access to birth control is still unmet,” says Jim Daniels, Trojan’s vice president for marketing. “Meeting that unmet need would translate into billions of tons of carbon dioxide saved.”
To that end, Trojan makes latex condoms as well as ones made of biodegradable lambskin. Other brands offer a vegan variety that replaces the dairy protein in latex condoms with cocoa powder. And no, they don’t all taste like chocolate.
Source: www.time.com

Profile: Ross Garnaut

The Australian government’s own climate change advisor has described the carbon pollution reduction scheme as “one of the worst examples of policy making we have seen on major issues in Australia”. Ross Garnaut makes some observations on how he sees China handling its shift to a low carbon economy and what should happen down on the farm.

First this week’s report The Age:

The federal government has dismissed criticism of its planned emissions trading scheme by the man who helped develop Labor’s model.

Ross Garnaut has described the carbon pollution reduction scheme as “one of the worst examples of policy making we have seen on major issues in Australia”.

Professor Garnaut, the government’s former climate change adviser, said it was extraordinary how political debate about emissions trading had broken down.

But Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says the government will focus on what it believes is in the national interest.

“When you are putting forward a reform that is this big… there are going to be a range of views,” she told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

Legislation setting up emissions trading will be reintroduced to parliament in November following its rejection by the Senate in August.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admits the emissions trading debate has become a “very unpretty process to watch”, but says the blame sits squarely with the opposition.

He says Labor firstly had to consult community groups, before secondly talking with industry.

“And then thirdly, try and herd into a single room all the factions which currently make up the divided rabble otherwise called the federal coalition and the federal Liberal Party.”

Mr Rudd told ABC Radio in Hobart “it’s a very unpretty process to watch”.

Meanwhile, Treasurer Wayne Swan says opposition claims that the price of electricity will jump by 30 to 40 per cent under a carbon pollution reduction scheme are alarmist.

Opposition climate change spokesman Ian Macfarlane said on Monday his party has been unable to get an honest assessment from the government of exactly what is going to happen to electricity prices.

“From what we can see from Treasury modelling, the price of electricity to industry and households will rise by 30 to 40 per cent,” he told ABC Radio.

However, Mr Swan told reporters in Hobart on Tuesday that Mr Macfarlane’s comment was the sort of “alarmist” rhetoric he expected to hear from the coalition.

“All of the time, we have published extensive modelling which makes forecasts about impacts on electricity prices.

“And, of course, it is the case that as you deal with dangerous climate change there will be impacts on prices.

“But that sort of alarmist talk is simply put forward by the Liberal party to camouflage the fact that they are climate change dinosaurs who are not genuine in their desire to see a carbon pollution reduction scheme in place.”

Source: www.news.theage.com.au

Garnaut discusses China’s take on climate change

Transcript of the Broadcast by Australian Broadcasting Corporation late last month.

Lateline Reporter: Tony Jones

TONY JONES, PRESENTER: Professor Ross Garnaut, who holds senior economic positions at both the ANU and Melbourne University and last year conducted the Government’s review of climate change. He’s also a former Ambassador to China. He’s currently in the Chinese capital where he’s delivered a paper at a conference on the low carbon economy.

Professor Garnaut joins us now live from Beijing. Ross Garnaut, thanks for being there, and I should say at the outset, we’ll get to what some of those farmers are saying and their concerns later. But first of all, your report says that Australia would be damaged more than any other developed country by unmitigated climate change. Does China face comparable risks?

ROSS GARNAUT: Yes, I think there’s several developing countries and countries that matter a lot to Australia that are very vulnerable, and that’s one of the ways that Australia would be hurt by climate change. Proportionately, probably South Asia, Bangladesh, but also to some extent India, parts of South East Asia, the river delta’s of Vietnam and coastal cities of Indonesia are very vulnerable. China: very vulnerable in parts, perhaps not quite as much as the others, but proportionately perhaps almost comparable to Australia.

TONY JONES: Do you think the Chinese leadership understands those risks as you’ve spelt them out? I mean, you’ve talked of the deglaciation of the Tibetan Plateau, the risk to the rivers, to the North China plain and its irrigation systems, and of course to low-lying industrial areas of China.

ROSS GARNAUT: Yes, there’s a lot of good science in China and the President and the Premier are engaged with that good science. So there’s a lot of awareness of the issue at senior levels in China, and that’s broadly spread through the policy-making communities. So there’s a strong base here of knowledge about the realities from which China can work.

TONY JONES: In New York last week, the Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged to reduce China’s carbon intensity by what he called a notable margin by 2020. No figures. How far and how fast do you believe the Chinese leadership will be willing to reduce its greenhouse emissions?

ROSS GARNAUT: Well, maybe a long way. Maybe further than I was anticipating in the review last year as being necessary. There were three main elements in the changes that the President referred to last week. One is a big reduction in the energy intensity of economic activity. They’ve put a target of four percentage points per annum reduction in the amount of energy used per unit of GDP through the current plan, which ends in 2010. They had a slow start, but they’ve been doing well lately. There’s a lot of discussion in China, and that’s been shared with me in the last couple of days, about whether it will be possible to continue that through to 2020. If it is continued through to 2020, and I think there’s a good chance that it will be, then that is important on a global scale.

The second is the strong commitment to low emissions energy. All of the renewable sources of energy, plus nuclear – very heavy investments in all of those and that’s been accelerated through the financial crisis.

And the third element, which can be quite important over the next few decades, is a very heavy commitment to reforestation of parts of China where woodlands and forests have been denuded. The President referred to, in the next period, planting an area equivalent to a couple per cent of the Chinese territory.

Add those things together and you’re looking at reductions in emissions in China by 2020 by something towards 40 per cent from the business-as-usual levels that I’d calculated for the review. So that’s a very big story if it comes through. What China hasn’t done yet is commit internationally to those numbers. They’re cautious about that because they’re not sure that they’ll be able to deliver, but also they’re expecting the developed countries to do what they promised to do and to move first, and I think that they’ll be ready to follow, and that’s what the President had in mind when he talked about significant developments.

TONY JONES: I don’t know if you’ve had any chance to talk to the officials you’ve been speaking to about the new approach that’s being talked about for negotiating by Penny Wong and the Australian Government. What they call “national schedules” for developing nations, where only some sectors of their economies will have to be – will have to commit to substantial targets. There won’t be overall – under this system anyway, there would not be overall, economy-wide targets that the developed countries have to live with. Is that resonating in Beijing and among policy-makers?

ROSS GARNAUT: That hasn’t been raised with me, Tony, and I’d be hopeful that in China we’ll see a bit more than that, that we’ll go further than that. But in many developing countries that would be an important step forward and it may not be possible in the near term to go further than that in many developing countries, but I don’t think China’s one of them.

TONY JONES: Have you seen any signs at all that China is willing to rein in its production of giant coal-fired power generators, which is the thing that’s primarily driving their carbon dioxide emissions?

ROSS GARNAUT: Oh, yes. The huge reductions in the energy intensity of economic activity and the investment in low emissions energy sources both have big implications for the rate of growth of coal-fired power generation. That’s implicit in all of the planning that’s going on.

TONY JONES: Indeed, there’s still a deadlock, though, isn’t there, between developing and developed countries and it is over who pays for the tremendous cost of transforming developing economies in the way that they will need to be transformed. China was calling for one per cent of GDP from all developed countries to be put aside to create a giant fund to help developing or poor countries pay for all these things. Are they still pushing along those lines?

ROSS GARNAUT: Well, China, in taking that position is thinking more about what’s necessary to get the whole developing world committed to emissions reduction, rather than having high expectations of itself of huge transfers to China. The evidence of that is what they’re doing unilaterally right now in reducing the energy intensity of economic activity and investing in renewables. But I think that idea, that there needs to be strong commitment by the developed countries to development of the new technologies and facilitating access to them for lower income countries, has to be an important part of the solution. I discussed that extensively in the review last year.

TONY JONES: Let me go back to the other things you discussed in the review and it’s what’s going to happen in Australia with an emissions trading scheme. You talked earlier this month about the damage that political argy bargy, as you called it, over the ETS is doing to Australia’s international reputation leading up to the Copenhagen talks. Now the Coalition is putting up serious amendments to the legislation, how much should the Government be prepared to compromise to make sure that some sort of ETS, even a much weaker one, goes through?

ROSS GARNAUT: There’s been a lot of compromise already, Tony. I think that there’s a valid case for transitional assistance for trade-exposed industries. And you can calculate the level of support that’s justified on economic and environmental grounds to prevent carbon leakage. On average, we’ve already gone beyond that, well beyond that in some industries, and there’s the separate question of payments to domestic generators who are supplying the domestic market and who will pass on a lot of their cost increases and who aren’t competing in an international market and I don’t think there’s any case at all for support there. So, to the extent that the calls for amendment of the emissions trading scheme involve larger payments to trade-exposed or domestic generating industries, I think it’s a step in the wrong direction. There are other changes that would actually help the scheme, but unfortunately, the things that would make it a better scheme are much less discussed than the things that would make it worse.

TONY JONES: You think the Opposition or the Coalition’s amendments would make it worse, is that what you’re saying?

ROSS GARNAUT: Well, I haven’t seen a list of amendments, Tony, but – so I’m not commenting on the Opposition’s position. I don’t know what that will be. But I’m saying additional payments to domestic generators, additional payments to the trade-exposed industries would make it worse. Not necessarily environmentally. The world is starting to move towards commitments towards – for strong mitigation, which would justify the 25 per cent reduction in Australia. And if we commit to that in international negotiations, then we’re doing our part environmentally. But if we’re making all of these payments that distort the process of transition to the low carbon economy, we will greatly increase the cost of doing what we commit to environmentally.

TONY JONES: We know that some of the areas around which compromises are being sought by the Coalition, so let’s start with this: can you take agriculture out of the scheme and leave farmers untouched by it?

ROSS GARNAUT: Well, the main emissions from agriculture are not to be part of the Government’s current scheme for five years and decisions on that will be made in 2013. There are real issues of measurement and management of the scheme in relation to direct farm emissions, so I think that some delay while the work is done on measurement is justified. I’d like to make sure that there’s very high priority given to the research that’s necessary to – to allow early inclusion of agriculture. I’d also like to see large commitments to research development and commercialisation of biosequestration technologies, which are potentially enormously valuable to the Australian farm and rural communities. Putting that right in the middle of the emissions trading scheme, the support for research development and commercialisation of biosequestration is one of the things that would make it a better scheme.

TONY JONES: You’re already seeing some rural politicians putting forward the alternative which is out there which they can point to, and that’s in the United States with the Waxman- Markey bill, which is basically the American version of an emissions trading scheme, and it leaves farmers out completely on the penalty side. It enables farmers to actually take benefit from things like biosequestration, but leaves them out of the penalty side of the equation. Now why couldn’t  that be done in Australia, if it can be done in America?

ROSS GARNAUT: Oh, of course it could be done, but the more things that you exempt from the scheme, the higher the cost to the whole economy, the higher the costs of reaching our targets. If you’ve got comprehensive carbon accounting, where you are systematically providing incentives for biosequestration on the farm and systematically taxing emissions, that will give you your lowest cost scheme for the country as a whole, but it will also provide lots of opportunities and benefits for farmers.

TONY JONES: Yes, but do you sympathise with farmers on the political position here, and indeed with the Government, because the heat is now being turned up in the rural sector because there’s scepticism about the science on the one hand, and a great deal of scepticism about being dragged into a scheme which will cost them money potentially for burping cattle and so on. So it looks to them like a huge bureaucratic imposture.

ROSS GARNAUT: Well, there’s two separate issues there: one is the exemption of some sectors of the economy. Now, every sector will benefit itself if it is exempted. An investor in any sector will be better if it doesn’t pay a tax. If you exempted any part of the economy from income tax, they’d benefit from it. And in a lot of our history, we did a lot of that sort of exemption, but that just pushes costs on the rest of the economy and makes the whole scheme more expensive than it otherwise it would be. The question of scepticism in the countryside is a different thing. That’s a sad thing. There you’ve got climate sharks praying on the vulnerability of people who aren’t in a position to be well-informed themselves. That’s a tragedy. The exploitation of people who would benefit from greater knowledge. I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen in rural Australia is that the well-informed will make a lot of money out of the ignorant. And the ignorant include a lot of people who can’t afford to be skinned in that way.

TONY JONES: A final question then: who are these climate sharks that you refer to? Do you mean the politicians that are leading their voters in different directions? Or are you talking about academics who take the view that there is no such thing as climate change? I mean, what sort of people are you referring to there?

ROSS GARNAUT: I’m referring to anyone who plays on the natural human instinct, who hope that there’s some – that when there’s bad news, it’s not true. That’s a very natural thing. I’m very sympathetic for it. I spent a lot of my life in rural Australia myself and I see that going on. It’s the sort of denial we see in relation to a lot of tragic circumstances, but you never make a problem easier to handle by pretending it doesn’t exist.

Source: www.rossgarnaut.com.au

 Ice-Free Arctic in 20 Years

What is seen as the biggest impact global warming is having on the physical appearance of the planet, the earth will lose its white cap that can be seen from space. Ships will be able to sail in open water to the North Pole in the summer of 2020, according to a study that confirms a rapid acceleration in the loss of sea ice.

Ben Webster for The Times and reported in The Australian (16 October 2009):

SHIPS will be able to sail in open water to the North Pole in the summer of 2020, according to a study that found a rapid acceleration in the loss of sea ice.

The Arctic will be ice-free in summer within 20 years, the study found, while Earth will lose its white cap that can be seen from space.

The Polar Ocean Physics Group from Cambridge University compared measurements of ice thickness recorded by a British Royal Navy nuclear submarine with those taken two years later by explorer Pen Hadow.

The sets of measurements were consistent, revealing the findings by HMS Tireless in 2007 were not an aberration caused by a particularly warm year.

Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at Cambridge, said cargo ships would no longer need to rely on special ice-breaking vessels to cross from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Northwest Passage. The route would be ice-free for months every year, cutting more than 4800km from the normal journey from East Asia to Europe via the Suez canal.

“The North Pole will be exposed in 10 years. You would be able to sail a Japanese car carrier across the North Pole and out into the Atlantic,” Professor Wadhams said. “The ice will retreat to a zone north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island by 2020 and that area will be less than half the present summer area. The change in the Arctic summer sea ice is the biggest impact global warming is having on the physical appearance of the planet.”

This month, the National Snow and Ice Data Centre, which is part of the University of Colorado, said Arctic ice coverage was the third-lowest since satellite records began in 1979. The coverage was greater than in 2007 and last year largely because of cloudy skies during late summer. Each of the past five years has been one of the five lowest years.

Professor Wadhams, who was on board the submarine supervising sonar measurements of the ice, said Mr Hadow’s findings confirmed the underlying trend was towards increasingly thin and patchy ice cover.

Mr Hadow and his two team members spent 73 days between March 1 and May 7 this year walking 450km across the Arctic while taking measurements. They drilled 1500 holes and found the average thickness of ice floes was 1.8m. This was too thin to have survived the previous year’s summer melting and indicated the ice had been formed in open sea during the winter.

Mr Hadow said future expeditions to the Arctic in summer would need to change their techniques and equipment to cope with more frequent stretches of open water. “A hundred years ago, explorers used dogs to haul sledges and then we went through the stage of people hauling sledges,” he said. “Now we have people wearing immersion suits and needing to swim, with the sledge floating. I foresee a time when the sledge will become more of a canoe.”

Martin Summerkorn, climate change adviser to the WWF Arctic Program, said the loss of sea ice predicted by the study would have profound consequences beyond the polar region.

Without ice to reflect sunlight, the Arctic Ocean would warm faster, resulting in the release of greenhouse gases stored in the Arctic permafrost soils. These soils contain twice as much carbon as is in the atmosphere.

Mr Summerkorn said the warming of the Arctic surface waters would accelerate the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, speeding up the sea-level rise.

“This could lead to flooding affecting one quarter of the world’s population and extreme global weather changes,” he said.

Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

China, Climate Change World Leader?

Long been labelled a global climate change villain for being the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China is making rapid progress in clean energy development. In fact, in many aspects China is leading the world in the fight against climate change.

Mathew Murphy in Sydney Morning Herald (15 October 2009):

CHINA has long been labelled a global climate change villain – unwilling to commit to a firm emissions reduction target and rigid towards reducing its carbon footprint to the same level as developed countries despite being the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide.

But to paint this picture in black and white ignores the rapid progress China is making in clean energy development. In fact, in many aspects China is leading the world in the fight against climate change.

As the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, arrives in Beijing for high-level talks with policy makers, the Climate Group’s recent report China’s Clean Revolution II highlights what the Asian powerhouse is doing, not just for the sake of the climate, but for its own sake.

Changhua Wu, the China director for the Climate Group, said the country’s climate change image was undergoing a makeover.

”We are definitely a good guy now. Where have people been?” she said. ”For a long time China was painted as a bad guy. Countries like China and India have been in that category, but starting this year, with more and more information being disclosed to the international community, they are starting to recognise the contribution that China has been making.

”The top leadership in China decided to take an alternative paradigm for the sake of the country. Renewable energy is now considered as a strategic element in the country’s future competitiveness internationally,” Ms Wu said.

One of the first signs that China was choosing a greener path was its 4000 billion yuan ($646 billion) stimulus package. Almost 40 per cent was directed towards green initiatives. That compared with the US’s injection of $US787 billion ($867 billion), where 12 per cent was aimed at renewables, building efficiency and low carbon vehicles. Australia’s commitment falls further back, with $US26.7 billion spent across the country but only 9 per cent committed to climate change investment. This came largely from the Government’s pink-batt policy to insulate 2.7 million homes.

The United Nations climate chief, Yvo de Boer, said China’s stimulus package would position it as a world leader in fighting global warming, and well ahead of the US in dealing with climate change.

While China eclipsed the US as the largest national emitter of greenhouse gas in 2007, its 1.3 billion citizens emit less per capita than do those of the US and European Union, and below the global average. To help bring that figure down further, energy efficiency is ”the number one priority of the Chinese Government”, Ms Wu said.

”China’s energy efficiency has improved dramatically but still if you compare energy efficiency levels to other countries China is still lagging behind,” she said.

The Chinese Government had adopted a multi-faceted approach to climate change. Its attention to renewable energy has come about because it has found a market to sell into.

The Climate Group report shows that 44 per cent of the world’s solar photovoltaic was produced by China last year.

”With the global financial crisis the international solar market almost disappeared, so that had a major impact on the industry,” Ms Wu said. ”About 70 per cent of the industry in China was consolidated by larger companies like Suntech. What is left in the market are only the leading solar companies.”

In fact what is happening in China is affecting Australian solar. Last month Solar Systems went into receivership. Its planned solar power station destined for Victoria’s north-west has been mothballed, priced out by a country that is manufacturing solar products at a staggering rate and cheaply.

Growth in installed wind turbines is faster in China than in any other country. Wind power in 2008 topped 12 gigawatts – a figure that is doubling every year. The country has committed to a renewable energy target of 15 per cent by 2020.

This week China Daily quoted a senior energy official as saying China would have 100 gigawatts of wind-power capacity by 2020 – more than three times the 30 GW target the Government has proposed. China wants to increase its wind power capacity to 20 GW by next year, suggesting it will smash the 2020 target.

As the road leads to Copenhagen, and potentially a new global climate change deal, China is in an interesting position. If the world signs up to a post-Kyoto emissions reduction target, China will assist in bringing down the world’s emissions with a big role in manufacturing.

Ms Wu said the Copenhagen deal needs to offer technology transfer agreements, more robust than in Kyoto, to get China on board.

Commentators expect a tough fight to get China over the line at Copenhagen but the President, Hu Jintao, appears to be listening. Last month he vowed to reduce China’s greenhouse gases by a ”notable margin” by 2020 but warned his country’s economic growth would not be sacrificed and that cuts would be measured in units of gross domestic product.

He would not lock in a firm commitment on how much China plans to cut emissions by.

Senator Wong will meet China’s key climate change policymaker today, the National Development and Reform Commission vice-chairman, Xie Zhenhua, to discuss the country’s strategy leading into Copenhagen.

China will not forgo economic prosperity for the sake of global warming but it has recognised a business opportunity in greening its economy. Recent signals from its leaders show that China could be amenable to a global climate change deal although on its terms.

It is set to play a lead role at Copenhagen – not least in showing the world how to position itself to take advantage of the upside.

Source: www.smh.com.au

Lomborg’s Copenhagen Climate Solution

Copenhagen Consensus Centre’s panel of experts identified that global carbon taxes would be the worst option to deal with climate change. Instead, recommended focusing investment on research into climate engineering as a short-term response, and on non-carbon-based energy as a longer-term response. The Skeptical Environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg reports:

Bjorn Lomborg in The Australian (15 October 2009):

A SENSE of panic is setting in among many campaigners for drastic cuts in global carbon emissions. It is becoming obvious that the highly trumpeted meeting set for Copenhagen this December will not deliver a binding international treaty that will make a significant difference to global warming.

After lofty rhetoric and big promises, politicians are starting to play the blame game. Developing countries blame rich countries for the lack of progress. Many blame the US, which will not have cap-and-trade legislation in place before Copenhagen.

The UN Secretary General says, “it may be difficult for President Obama to come with strong authority” to reach agreement in Copenhagen. Others blame developing countries – particularly Brazil, China and India – for a reluctance to sign up to binding carbon cuts. Wherever you turn, somebody is being blamed for Copenhagen’s apparent looming failure.

Yet, it has been clear for a considerable time that there is a more fundamental problem: immediate promises of carbon cuts do not work. Seventeen years ago, industrialised nations promised with great fanfare in Rio de Janeiro to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. Emissions overshot the target by 12 per cent. In Kyoto, leaders committed to a cut of 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. The failure to meet that target will most likely be even more spectacular, with emissions overshooting by about 25 per cent.

The plan was to convene world leaders in Copenhagen and renew vows to cut carbon while committing to even more ambitious targets. But it is obvious that even a last-minute scramble to salvage some form of agreement will fare no better in actually helping the planet. With such a poor track record, there is a need for soul-searching and openness to other approaches.

A realistic “Plan B” does not mean plotting a second meeting after Copenhagen, as some have suggested. It means rethinking our strategy. This year, the Copenhagen Consensus Centre commissioned research from top climate economists examining feasible ways to respond to global warming. Their research looked at how much we could help the planet by setting different levels of carbon taxes, planting more trees, cutting methane, reducing black-soot emissions, adapting to global warming, or focusing on a technological solution to climate change.

The centre convened an expert panel of five of the world’s leading economists, including three Nobel Prize winners, to consider all of the new research and identify the best – and worst – options.

The panel found that expensive, global carbon taxes would be the worst option. This finding was based on a groundbreaking research paper that showed that even a highly efficient global CO2 tax aimed at fulfilling the ambitious goal of keeping temperature increases below 2C would reduce annual world GDP by a staggering 12.9per cent, or $US40 trillion ($43.7trillion), in 2100. The total cost would be 50 times that of the avoided climate damage. And if politicians choose less-efficient, less-co-ordinated cap-and-trade policies, the costs could escalate a further 10 to 100 times.

Instead, the panel recommended focusing investment on research into climate engineering as a short-term response, and on non-carbon-based energy as a longer-term response.

Some suggested climate engineering technologies – in particular, marine cloud-whitening technology – could be cheap, fast, and effective. (Boats would spray seawater droplets into clouds above the oceans to make them reflect more sunlight back into space, reducing warming). Remarkably, the research says that a total of about $US9 billion spent implementing marine cloud-whitening technology might be able to offset this entire century’s global warming. Even if one approaches this technology with concerns – as many of us do – we should aim to identify its limitations and risks sooner rather than later.

It appears that climate engineering could buy us some time, and it is time that we need to make a sustainable and smooth shift away from reliance on fossil fuels. Research shows that non-fossil-fuel energy sources will – based on today’s availability – get us less than halfway towards a path of stable carbon emissions by 2050, and only a tiny fraction of the way towards stabilisation by 2100.

If politicians change course and agree this December to invest significantly more in research and development, we would have a much greater chance of getting this technology to the level where it needs to be. And, because it would be cheaper and easier than carbon cuts, there would be a much greater chance of reaching a genuine, broad-based – and thus successful – international agreement.

Carbon pricing could be used to finance research and development, and to send a price signal to promote the deployment of effective, affordable technology alternatives. Investing about $US100 billion annually would mean that we could essentially resolve the climate change problem by the end of this century.

While the blame game will not solve global warming, the mounting panic could lead to a positive outcome if it meant we reconsider our current approach. If we want real action, we need to pick smarter solutions that will cost less and do more. That would be a result for which every politician would be happy to accept responsibility.

Bjorn Lomborg is director of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, author of Cool It and The Skeptical Environmentalist, and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School.

Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Media & Message for Responsible Change

Environmental reporters from Africa, Asia, and Latin America met in Mauritania this week to discuss how the developing world can best make its case for responsible change at December’s U.N. climate-change conference in Copenhagen.  The African Network of Environmental Journalists wants to develop a unified media strategy which pays proper attention to the needs of the developing world.

By Scott Stearns for Voice of America News in Dakar (15 October 2009):

Environmental reporters from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are meeting in Mauritania to discuss how the developing world can best make its case for responsible change at December’s U.N. climate-change conference in Copenhagen. 

The African Network of Environmental Journalists organized this meeting with colleagues from Asia and Latin America to develop a unified media strategy to ensure the Copenhagen summit pays proper attention to the needs of the developing world.

When leaders meet at the U.N. conference in December, they will be discussing how to move forward on climate change when the Kyoto Accords expire in 2012.

Sidi El Moctar Cheigeur chairs the African Network of Environmental Journalists.

As the Kyoto Accords end in 2012, Cheigeur says political leaders must adapt to changing climatic conditions and develop strategies to lower the effect on the environment. That is one of the biggest issues to be discussed in Copenhagen.

Cheigeur says the Copenhagen summit will be a test of the responsibility and engagement of world leaders, especially those in the northern hemisphere who he says will show whether they have the vision and commitment to meet historic responsibilities.

While the roles of reporters and government leaders are different, on this issue Cheigeur says their goals are the same: to protect the rights of those most vulnerable to climate change.

The U.N. Environment Program helped establish the African Network of Environmental Journalists to raise awareness of environmental issues through better reporting for the public and better information sharing between reporters.

The meeting in Mauritania is meant to focus African, Asian, and Latin American environmental journalists on reporting that reflects the need for the fair and transparent distribution of Copenhagen funds to ensure that money is spent properly.

Maria Duvali Ribero is the U.N. Representative in Mauritania. Ribero says the climatic clock is ticking fast, and all eyes are looking to the future of the planet and the health of future generations.

Negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen summit have made progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But there are still questions about how much money industrialized countries are willing to spend to help developing countries adapt to the impact of climate change on water resources, urbanization, food security, and biodiversity.

Janos Pasztor is the director of the U.N. Secretary General’s Climate Change Support Team:

“Clarity is still lacking on the issue of finance that developing countries need in order to undertake additional actions to limit their emission growth and adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change,” Pasztor said.

Those attending the Mauritania meeting say the Copenhagen summit must address the impact of deforestation and forest degradation, especially given the role that forests in Africa, Asia, and Latin America play in regulating global climate.

Idrissa Diarra is Mauritania’s environment minister:

Diarra says the developing world’s strategy on climate change aims to protect the environment while preserving sustainable development to reduce poverty.

Pasztor says U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is encouraging parties to the Copenhagen summit to negotiate in a spirit of flexibility and enlightened self-interest to focus on the benefits that a fair, ambitious, and comprehensive deal would provide for future generations.

Source: www.voanews.com

The African Network of Environmental Journalists (ANEJ) is an organisation that seeks to promote public understanding of environmental issues in Africa by improving the quality, accuracy, and intensity of environmental reporting. The organisation aims to increase the coverage of environmental issues in the media in Africa and to enhance the capacity of African journalists to report on environmental issues through workshops, networking, information sharing, and institutional development. Specific objectives include:

• mainstreaming environmental journalism in Africa;
• enhancing the capacity of African journalists to deal with existing and emerging environmental challenges;
• disseminating relevant information on environmental issues in Africa;
• promoting web journalism on environment and sustainable development in Africa;
• influencing decision making processes with regard to environmental policies in Africa; and
• disseminating information on the activities implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other relevant institutions, organisations, and governments.

ANEJ was conceived at the first workshop for African Environmental Journalists that was held at the UN Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, November 26-28 2002.

Source: www.anej-media.org