Extreme Weather Proves Global Warming is Already Happening

Almost 14 million people have been affected by the torrential rains in Pakistan, making it a more serious humanitarian disaster than the South Asian tsunami and recent earthquakes in Kashmir and Haiti combined. The world weather crisis that is causing floods in Pakistan, wildfires in Russia and landslides in China is evidence that global warming predictions are correct. Experts from the United Nations and universities around the world said the recent “extreme weather events” prove global warming is already happening.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent, Daily Telegraph, Uk (10 August 2010)::

Almost 14 million people have been affected by the torrential rains in Pakistan, making it a more serious humanitarian disaster than the South Asian tsunami and recent earthquakes in Kashmir and Haiti combined.

The disaster was driven by a ‘supercharged jet stream’ that has also caused floods in China and a prolonged heatwave in Russia.

UN relief agencies forced to suspend Pakistan rescues. It comes after flash floods in France and Eastern Europe killed more than 30 people over the summer.

Experts from the United Nations (UN) and universities around the world said the recent “extreme weather events” prove global warming is already happening.

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice-president of the body set up by the UN to monitor global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the ‘dramatic’ weather patterns are consistent with changes in the climate caused by mankind.

 “These are events which reproduce and intensify in a climate disturbed by greenhouse gas pollution,” he said.

“Extreme events are one of the ways in which climatic changes become dramatically visible.”

The UN has rated the floods in Pakistan as the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history, with 13.8 million people affected and 1,600 dead.

Flooding in China has killed more than 1,100 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.

In Russia the morgues are overflowing in Moscow and wildfires are raging in the countryside after the worst heatwave in 130 years.

Dr Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring and attribution at the Met Office, said it was impossible to attribute any one of these particular weather events to global warming alone.

But he said there is “clear evidence” of an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events because of climate change.

“The odds of such extreme events are rapidly shortening and could become considered the norm by the middle of this century,” he warned.

Dr Stott also said global warming is likely to be make extreme events worse. For example, when there is more heat in the atmosphere it holds more water and therefore floods in places like Pakistan are heavier.

“If we have these type of extreme weather patterns then climate change has loaded the dice so there is more risk of bad things happening,” he said.

Professor Andrew Watson, a climatologist at the University of East Anglia, which was at the centre of last year’s ‘climategate’ scandal, said the extreme events are “fairly consistent with the IPCC reports and what 99 per cent of the scientists believe to be happening”.

“I’m quite sure that the increased frequency of these kind of summers over the last few decades is linked to climate change,” he said.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Heatwave in Russia Hits Economy & World Wheat Prices

Russia’s worst heatwave on record has stoked wildfires and parched crops in last year’s No. 3 global wheat exporter, leading to a grain export ban, sending prices of wheat to two-year highs at one point and prompting the World Bank to warn against hasty restrictions on exports. Economists say the heatwave could knock 1 percentage point off Russia’s gross domestic product, weakening an economic recovery from a 2009 slump due to the global financial crisis.

Aleksandras Budrys for Reuters (11 August 2010):

MOSCOW – Scorching heat will keep hammering Russia for the next 10 days, a top weather official has said, and seeding for the winter grain crops is in danger if there is no rain after that.

Russia’s worst heatwave on record has stoked wildfires and parched crops in last year’s No. 3 global wheat exporter, leading to a grain export ban, sending prices of wheat to two-year highs at one point and prompting the World Bank to warn against hasty restrictions on exports.

“The situation is not changing radically,” deputy director of Hydrometcentre, the government weather forecasting unit, Dmitry Kiktyov said of the heat wave that has cost 54 lives in fires and, economists said, could wipe $US14 billion off economic growth.

“The temperature will change insignificantly, and there will be only local rains. They will be insufficient to cushion the current situation,” he said.

The drought could slash Russia’s 2010 grain output by nearly 40 per cent to 60 million tonnes, and the winter wheat sowing campaign could begin to be in jeopardy if there is no rain during or right after the next 10 days.

“Our investigations show that the sowing may be delayed by some 10 days without losses. But only in case of rains,” agricultural forecasting official Anna Strashnaya told Reuters.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who said Russia’s ban on grain exports could extend into next year, noted the drought could prevent some regions from starting the sowing campaign for the 2011 winter grain crop, which normally accounts for roughly 40 per cent of the total.

The majority of Russia’s grain crops are not planted until the spring, allowing much more time for conditions to improve.

World bank

On Tuesday, World Bank President Robert Zoellick cautioned against countries taking any action that could add to market uncertainty, in particular widespread export bans like Russia’s.

“The situation in world grain markets is very uncertain and therefore somewhat volatile,” Mr Zoellick told reporters in Sofia.

“What is better this time is that the buffer stock is a little higher than a couple of years ago,” he said, referring to tightness in global grains markets in 2008.

“We are cautioning countries about taking actions that might be appealing domestically but could add uncertainty on markets such as bans on exports,” Mr Zoellick said, echoing comments by World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Economists say the heatwave could knock 1 per centage point off Russia’s gross domestic product, weakening an economic recovery from a 2009 slump due to the global financial crisis.

The crop failures will hit Russian farmers particularly hard. Only around 25 per cent of Russia’s crops are insured, compared with 80 per cent in the United States, Swiss Re, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer said on Tuesday.

Wheat markets slid further on Tuesday from last week’s two-year highs, as traders assessed the damage to grains production across the Black Sea region that also includes major grains producer Ukraine, and pointed to ample stocks after two years of good harvests.

“With these bull runs you need to keep feeding the rally and we’ve seen most of the bad news now,” Rabobank analyst Luke Chandler said.

Wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade traded as low as $US6.90 a bushel on Tuesday, around 18 per cent below last week’s peak of $US8.41, before rebounding to $US710-1/4 by 1559 GMT.

Prices remain far below the peaks set during early 2008 when shrinking inventories and rising energy markets saw CBOT wheat futures rise as high as $US13.34-1/2.

The two largest global wheat crops in history in 2008 and 2009 have resulted in much higher stock levels now and a return to the prices seen two years ago is considered unlikely.

Still, prices remain more than 50 per cent higher than June lows, and importers are reluctant to commit to deals at current prices.

Turkey’s state grain office said on Tuesday it had sufficient wheat stocks while Jordan said it had enough wheat stocks to cover its needs for six months but would be forced to switch to more expensive US or European grains.

Source: www.climatespectator.com.au

Make or Break for Geodynamics in Hot Rock Drilling Program

Geodynamics has spent an estimated A$300 million over the past decade on the development of its cutting edge hot dry rocks geothermal technology in the Cooper Basin. Sometime in the next month or so it might find out if it has all been worth it. Geodynamics is by far the best funded of Australia’s growing brigade of geothermal aspirants, with a cash balance of around $70 million, but it needs to tap the market for more money within the next six months to continue its ambitious program.  

Giles Parkinson in Climate Spectator (11 August 2010):

Geodynamics has spent an estimated $300 million over the past decade on the development of its cutting edge hot dry rocks geothermal technology in the Cooper Basin. Sometime in the next month or so it might find out if it has all been worth it.

It may seem overly dramatic to label the fracturing tests that will be undertaken at a single well over the next few weeks as a “make or break” for the company.

But that is the way it is being viewed by Geodynamics and its backers. Success will deliver the key to an estimated 6,500MW of clean, base-load power that could be brought to the grid over the next 10 to 15 years; failure will cause the company to undergo a major rethink of its ambitions.

The rest of the geothermal industry also has a lot at stake on what unfolds nearly 5 kms beneath the surface at the Jolokia 1.  A good result will bring much needed investor confidence, a disappointing or inconclusive result may have the opposite effect. And proponents of other technologies will be looking on with interest, too. None more so, perhaps than nuclear, which has a weaker case to argue in Australia if geothermal looks likely to deliver on its promise.

Next week, Geodynamics is scheduled to begin a “hydraulic fracture stimulation program” at the Jolokia well near Innamincka. Water will be injected to a depth of 4.9kms with the aim of finding natural faults in the super-heated granite and opening these up to create a flow of high pressure hot water which can then be exploited to drive a turbine on the surface via a heat exchanger.

It is not the first time such fracture stimulations have been carried out, but no one has done this at the same depth, temperature (280C) and under such extreme pressure (9,000 PSI). It’s cutting edge stuff and the team at Geodynamics (many of them ex-oil drillers) are clearly excited. Last week they got their first photos of the deep fractures (sent before the specially created imaging tool melted). No one seems to have sat down since and there is every confidence that this will be a “make” rather than a “break” for the company.

Jolokia is located nearly 10kms from the company’s previously successful fracturing activities at Habanero. If that success can be repeated at Jolokia, the company argues that this will demonstrate its ability to create heat exchangers at will across its tenement areas – unlocking up to 6,500MW of geothermal resources in the Geodynamics tenements and opening up a new energy province in central Australia.

That would lead to a flurry of activity. The company would return to Habanero to drill two more wells and commission the 1MW pilot plant that was delayed by the blow-out in the Habanero 3 well last year. If the pilot plant is successful, the company can then move to make an investment decision on its proposed 25MW commercial demonstration plant, for which it has federal government support to the tune of $90 million, and gain the confidence to tap the market for funds to pay for an expanded drilling program.

The commercial plant would probably not be up and running till around 2015. In the meantime, Geodynamic’s partner in the Innamincka “Deeps” project, Origin Energy, will lead its own drilling campaign to see if it can unlock energy from the Innamincka “Shallows” – geothermal heat lying in sedimentary acquifers which are considered easier to exploit. The partners believe there might be around 100MW-200MW of “shallow” resources in the immediate area. Exploiting these would provide early revenue and be a complimentary energy play to the larger project. But without the longer-term value of the “Deeps” it is uncertain if this shallow reserve could be economically exploited.

Failure at Jolokia, however, will be a devastating blow. Geodynamics is by far the best funded of Australia’s growing brigade of geothermal aspirants, with a cash balance of around $70 million, but it needs to tap the market for more money within the next six months to continue its ambitious program.

Other companies need money too. The industry – be it pursuing the deep hot dry rock reservoirs or the shallow sedimentary aquifers – would prefer not to find itself in a position where its future may be influenced by the success or failure of a single well, but because funding has been so hard to come by from government and the investment community, that is exactly where it finds itself.

Source: www.climatespectator.com.au

Can Rudd Do For The World What He Failed To Do At Home?

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has this week appointed former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the “mother of all panels” on Global Sustainability, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told the Climate Change & Business conference on Tuesday night. She expects December’s UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico would take the world “one more firm step along the road toward climate control”.

CE Daily (11 August 2010):

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has this week appointed ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the “mother of all panels”, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told a Sydney conference on Tuesday night. 

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday launched the high-level panel on global sustainability, with members including Rudd, EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, and former South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, now director of the Global Green Growth Institute. 

“It is a very broad-looking panel that looks at the relationship between climate, health, development, poverty, energy security … you name it,” Figueres said in a live videolink address to the climate and business conference in Sydney. 

“It is the – if you will – the ‘mother’ of all panels,” she said. 

“Because what the Secretary-General is trying to do with this panel is to – in his words – ‘connect the dots’. 

“So he is encouraging members of this panel to take a look at all the different aspects of sustainable growth which are currently being dealt with in an isolated fashion by different venues and different entities and begin to put forward a more integrative view,” she said. 

The panel will look at “how all of these aspects connect to each other, how there may be synergies among them and how the UN might take them forward in an integrative manner,” she said. 

‘Forget the ‘big bang’ theory of climate action’

Figueres told the Climate Change and Business conference that a successful outcome from this December’s UN climate talks in Cancun would comprise a series of decisions that would take the world “one more firm step along the road toward climate control”. 

“I think we all made a mistake by expecting last year at Copenhagen that there would be one magic bullet that would solve the climate crisis. 

“This does not exist,” she said. 

“This is what I call the ‘big bang theory’ of climate. That there would be last year, this year, next year – whatever – one big agreement that would solve both adaptation and mitigation issues of climate in a definitive way,” she said. 

Figueres said the problem had arisen over time and it would take time to deal with it. 
“The only way we can address it is in an incremental gradual manner.”

Source: www.cedaily.com.au

Power Generation in Australia Gets A Greener Tinge

Electricity generation across Australia’s five eastern states was greener in 2009 compared with the previous year. This was despite a continued reliance on coal-fired power stations and an increase in the use of some of the largest and most greenhouse intensive coal-fired stations in the country. The findings are part of The Climate Group’s Electricity Generation Report 2009.

The Climate Group Report (9 August 2010):

                                     
•    Biggest emitting power stations in 2009 revealed
•    Renewables and gas generation grow by 11 per cent and 8 per cent
•    Power station emissions down 2.4 per cent overall
•    Coal-fired electricity dirtier due to increased use of most carbon intensive stations 

Electricity generation across Australia’s five eastern states was greener in 2009 compared with the previous year. This was despite a continued reliance on coal-fired power stations and an increase in the use of some of the largest and most greenhouse intensive coal-fired stations in the country. 

The findings are part of The Climate Group’s Electricity Generation Report 2009, which reports on electricity generation and associated emissions from coal, gas, liquid fuel and renewables. The report reveals the biggest emitting power stations in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. 

In total, power stations generated 208 million Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity in 2009, 2.1 per cent less than 2008, and emitted 181 million tonnes of greenhouse gas, a decrease of 2.4 per cent on 2008.

The three biggest emitting power stations in 2009 were all in Victoria: Loy Yang A emitted 18.81 million tonnes CO2e, Hazelwood 16.25 million tonnes, and Yallourn W 15 million tonnes. Bayswater and Eraring in New South Wales were the fourth and fifth most polluting stations, emitting 14.92 million tonnes and 13.96 million tonnes CO2e respectively. 

Growth of 11 per cent in renewable electricity generation and 8 per cent for gas meant that the average carbon intensity of electricity fell by just more than one per cent compared with 2008, to 0.87 tonnes CO2e/MWh. 

The overall share of renewables and gas remains small, accounting for 9.3  per cent and 8.0 per cent of total generation respectively (but up from 8.3 per cent and 7.6 per cent in 2008). 

Electricity and emissions across the five states continues to be dominated by a relatively small number of large coal-fired power stations: the top 20 generators of electricity were all coal-fired and accounted for more than 90 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions. The top 10 accounted for more than 70 per cent of total emissions.  

Total electricity generated from coal declined slightly, accounting for 82.3 per cent of total electricity, down from 84 per cent in 2008. This fall was largely due to less output from Liddell, Mt Piper, and Vales Point B in New South Wales.

However, electricity generation and emissions from some of the country’s most carbon intensive power stations increased last year. Of the top seven most carbon intensive power stations, six generated more electricity in 2009 – including Victoria’s Hazlewood, Yallourn W and Loy Yang B. 

In South Australia, electricity generation increased at Playford B, the most carbon intensive* station in all five states. In New South Wales, the most carbon intensive generator, Redbank Station, also produced more electricity than in 2008.

Rupert Posner, The Australia Director of The Climate Group said: 

“The report shows that the mandated targets for renewable energy are making a difference, with our electricity becoming less greenhouse intensive.

“The fact that we generated more electricity from some of the most carbon intensive power stations means that, despite having a smaller overall market share, the carbon intensity of coal-fired electricity actually increased.

“This outcome is a clear example of why we need a price on carbon. We need to reduce our dependence on our most greenhouse polluting power stations but without a price on carbon the cheapest, rather than the least-polluting power stations are used first.”

The average carbon intensity of coal-fired power stations in Australia in 2009 was 1 tonne CO2 per MWh, gas was 0.57 and zero for renewables. The results varied across the states – for a state by state breakdown please see the individual sections with the full report.

* Carbon intensity applies to the total electricity generated. Hazelwood is slightly more carbon intensive in terms of “sent out” electricity. 

Source: www.theclimategroup.org

Biochar Gets A Big Boost From US Research Findings

As much as 12% of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials. That’s more than what could be offset if the same plants and materials were burned to generate energy, concludes a study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Nature Communications Journal (10 August 2010):

Charcoal takes some heat off global warming

Biochar can offset 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon emissions annually

As much as 12 percent of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials. That’s more than what could be offset if the same plants and materials were burned to generate energy, concludes a study published today in the journal Nature Communications.

“These calculations show that biochar can play a significant role in the solution for the planet’s climate change challenge,” said study co-author Jim Amonette, a soil chemist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. “Biochar offers one of the few ways we can create power while decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. And it improves food production in the world’s poorest regions by increasing soil fertility. It’s an amazing tool.”

The study is the most thorough and comprehensive analysis to date on the global potential of biochar. The carbon-packed substance was first suggested as a way to counteract climate change in 1993. Scientists and policymakers have given it increasing attention in the past few years. The study was conducted by Dominic Woolf and Alayne Street-Perrott of Swansea University in Wales, U.K., Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Stephen Joseph of the University of New South Wales, Australia, and Amonette.

Biochar is made by decomposing biomass like plants, wood and other organic materials at high temperature in a process called slow pyrolysis. Normally, biomass breaks down and releases its carbon into the atmosphere within a decade or two. But biochar is more stable and can hold onto its carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years, keeping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide out of the air longer. Other biochar benefits include: improving soils by increasing their ability to retain water and nutrients; decreasing nitrous oxide and methane emissions from the soil into which it is tilled; and, during the slow pyrolysis process, producing some bio-based gas and oil that can offset emissions from fossil fuels.

Making biochar sustainably requires heating mostly residual biomass with modern technologies that recover energy created during biochar’s production and eliminate the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, the study also noted.

Crunching numbers and biomass

For their study, the researchers looked to the world’s sources of biomass that aren’t already being used by humans as food. For example, they considered the world’s supply of corn leaves and stalks, rice husks, livestock manure and yard trimmings, to name a few. The researchers then calculated the carbon content of that biomass and how much of each source could realistically be used for biochar production.

With this information, they developed a mathematical model that could account for three possible scenarios. In one, the maximum possible amount of biochar was made by using all sustainably available biomass. Another scenario involved a minimal amount of biomass being converted into biochar, while the third offered a middle course. The maximum scenario required significant changes to the way the entire planet manages biomass, while the minimal scenario limited biochar production to using biomass residues and wastes that are readily available with few changes to current practices.

Amonette and his colleagues found that the maximum scenario could offset up to the equivalent of 1.8 petagrams – or 1.8 billion metric tons – of carbon emissions annually and a total of 130 billion metric tons throughout in the first 100 years. Avoided emissions include the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The estimated annual maximum offset is 12 percent of the 15.4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions that human activity adds to the atmosphere each year. Researchers also calculated that the minimal scenario could sequester just under 1 billion metric tons annually and 65 billion metric tons during the same period.

But to achieve any of these offsets is no small task, Amonette noted.

“This can’t be accomplished with half-hearted measures,” Amonette said. “Using biochar to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at these levels is an ambitious project that requires significant commitments from the general public and government. We will need to change the way we value the carbon in biomass.”

Experiencing the full benefits of biochar will take time. The researchers’ model shows it will take several decades to ramp up biochar production to its maximum possible level. Greenhouse gas offsets would continue past the century mark, but Amonette and colleagues just calculated for the first 100 years.

Biochar and bioenergy work together

Instead of making biochar, biomass can also be burned to produce bioenergy from heat. Researchers found that burning the same amount of biomass used in their maximum biochar scenario would offset 107 billion metric tons of carbon emissions during the first century. The bioenergy offset, while substantial, was 23 metric tons less than the offset from biochar. Researchers attributed this difference to a positive feedback from the addition of biochar to soils. By improving soil conditions, biochar increases plant growth and therefore creates more biomass for biochar productions. Adding biochar to soils can also decrease nitrous oxide and methane emissions that are naturally released from soil.

However, Amonette and his co-authors wrote that a flexible approach including the production of biochar in some areas and bioenergy in others would create optimal greenhouse gas offsets. Their study showed that biochar would be most beneficial if it were tilled into the planet’s poorest soils, such as those in the tropics and the Southeastern United States.

Those soils, which have lost their ability to hold onto nutrients during thousands of years of weathering, would become more fertile with the extra water and nutrients the biochar would help retain. Richer soils would increase the crop and biomass growth – and future biochar sources – in those areas. Adding biochar to the most infertile cropland would offset greenhouse gases by 60 percent more than if bioenergy were made using the same amount of biomass from that location, the researchers found.

On the other hand, the authors wrote that bioenergy production could be better suited for areas that already have rich soils – such as the Midwest – and that also rely on coal for energy. Their analysis showed that bioenergy production on fertile soils would offset the greenhouse gas emissions of coal-fired power plants by 16 to 22 percent more than biochar in the same situation.

Plantations need not apply

The study also shows how sustainable practices can make the biochar that creates these offsets.

“The scientific community has been split on biochar,” Amonette acknowledged. “Some think it’ll ruin biodiversity and require large biomass plantations. But our research shows that won’t be the case if the right approach is taken.”

The authors’ estimates of avoided emissions were developed by assuming no agricultural or previously unmanaged lands will be converted for biomass crop production. Other sustainability criteria included leaving enough biomass residue on the soil to prevent erosion, not using crop residues currently eaten by livestock, not adding biochar made from treated building materials to agricultural soils and requiring that only modern pyrolysis technologies – those that fully recover energy released during the process and eliminate soot, methane and nitrous oxide emissions – be used for biochar production.

“Roughly half of biochar’s climate-mitigation potential is due to its carbon storage abilities,” Amonette said. “The rest depends on the efficient recovery of the energy created during pyrolysis and the positive feedback achieved when biochar is added to soil. All of these are needed for biochar to reach its full sustainable potential.”

###

The study was funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, the Cooperative State Research Service of the Department of Agriculture, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the United Kingdom’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and VenEarth Group LLC.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America’s most intractable problems in energy, the environment and national security. PNNL employs 4,700 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab’s inception in 1965.

Source: www.eurekalert.org

Boco Rock To Produce Enough Wind Power for 120,000 Homes

Wind Prospect’s Boco Rock Wind Farm in New South Wales has been given the go ahead for up to 122 wind turbines spread over 17 different properties and the potential to produce over 840,000 megawatt hours of electricity per annum. Meanwhile The Climate Group reports that wind power generation across the eastern states grew by 40% last year as several large farms began operating.

Wind Prospect announcement (10 August 2010):

Wind Prospect CWP is pleased to announce that the Boco Rock Wind Farm has been granted Development Approval by the NSW Government. The project, located 6 km south west of Nimmitabel and approximately 40 km south of Cooma on the Monaro plains, will comprise up to 122 wind turbines spread over 17 different properties.

The wind farm has the potential to produce over 840,000 megawatt hours of electricity per annum; enough energy to supply over 120,000 average Australian homes.

Boco Rock Wind Farm will cost in the order of $700 million to build and up to 40% of that total will be injected into the Australian economy through construction and supply contracts. In addition it is estimated that over 240 jobs could be created through pre-construction and construction works, with a further 15 to 20 permanent positions required for ongoing operation and maintenance activities once the wind farm has been built.

“We aim to begin construction mid-2011 with the first clean, green electricity flowing from the site by mid- 2012. Full commissioning is expected to occur in 2013” said Ed Mounsey, Wind Prospect CWP’s Development Director.

The project will also generate additional benefits for the local area around the wind farm. A community fund will be created to provide up to $305,000 per annum to be spent on projects chosen by local people. Conservation areas will also be established to be managed by local landowners. “These conservation areas are important as, in addition to retaining the natural biodiversity of the area, they allow participating landowners to follow less intensive and more sustainable farming practices particularly during times of drought”, Mr Mounsey concluded.

However, Mr Mounsey also adds, “a project of this size, whilst significant, will only account for 2% of the Federal Government’s expanded renewable energy target. With wind energy the lowest cost renewable energy provider it is necessary for state and federal governments and regulators to continue to create the right policy, regulatory and commercial environment to encourage both the development and financing of such projects”.

Wind Prospect CWP Pty Ltd is an independent wind farm development company situated in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

The company is a partnership between the Wind Prospect Group and Continental Wind Partners and together have a portfolio of over 2,000 MW’s in NSW alone at various stages of development.

Source: www.windprospect.com.au

Adam Morton in Sydney Morning Herald (9 August 2010):

Wind power generation across the eastern states grew by 40 per cent last year as several large farms began operating.

A Climate Group report on electricity generation and its emissions, covering all states except Western Australia, found 83 per cent of power used in 2009 came from greenhouse-intensive coal. Nine per cent was from renewable sources – mainly hydro power – and 8 per cent from gas.

The biggest growth from renewable sources was from wind turbines, which fed 4.1 million megawatt hours into the national electricity grid. The increase was boosted by the opening of the largest wind farm at Waubra, north-west of Ballarat.

Wind supplies about 2 per cent of total power across the eastern seaboard. This is expected to grow dramatically over the next decade as wind farms are built to meet the bulk of the national 20 per cent renewable energy target.

The growth in renewable power last year meant emissions were about 2 million tonnes lower than if the electricity had come from coal.

Source: www.smh.com.au

Teaching Climate Change To Boost Science Student Uptake

Tackling modern problems such as climate change is a key element of a new program to fight the chronic problem of older secondary students shunning the subject of science. Targeting year 9 and 10 students, trials of the locally developed science program known as STELR – Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance – have proved so successful that it has secured Federal Government funding and will be rolled out to 180 schools next year.

Saving planet may lure students back to science

By Bridie Smith in The Age (8 August 2010):

TACKLING modern problems such as climate change is a key element of a new program to fight the chronic problem of older secondary students shunning the subject of science.

Targeting year 9 and 10 students, trials of the locally developed science program known as STELR – Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance – have proved so successful that it has secured Federal Government funding and will be rolled out to 180 schools next year.

The brainchild of Alan Finkel, Monash University chancellor and director of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering [and co-founder of COSMOS], the six-week program puts science in a contemporary context, encouraging students to grapple with issues such as climate change and renewable energy.

It’s the first time the academy has designed a program to work within the school curriculum and Dr Finkel, who will discuss the program on Wednesday at the National Press Club, said this was a significant step.

”The extra curriculum programs we’ve been involved with tend to preach to the converted … and while if it wasn’t for those programs I think the participation rate would be lower, they have not been adequate to stop the decline of the 1980s and 1990s,” he said.

Research has shown students are concerned about the health of their planet. A survey by the Australian Childhood Foundation found 52 per cent of children were worried about not having enough water in the future and 44 per cent were worried about the effects of climate change.

One participant in the STELR trials was Nita Cheung, 16, who made miniaturised wind turbines, solar panels and converted vegetable oils and sugars to biological fuels. ”It’s easier than reading notes on a board and you feel like you learn more by making things,” the year 10 Northcote High School student said.

Her classmate Rowan Watson, 16, said the program had ”made science interesting”.

”I’ve learnt things I wouldn’t have expected,” he said.

According to the Australian Council for Educational Research, about 55 per cent of year 12 students studied biology in 1976, while 29 per cent studied chemistry and 28 per cent physics. That has fallen to just a quarter of year 12 students who study biology, 18 per cent chemistry and 15 per cent physics.

Dr Finkel said it was vital this trend was reversed. ”We’re now at a low base and don’t have enough students going through the pipeline to meet the job demands of the future,” he said

Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

Here’s a Lucky Last minute alert for Sydneysiders and visitors to make sure of attendance the Beyond Zero Emissions seminar in the Sydney Town Hall. And a chance to hear from Malcolm Turnbull and Bob Carr on the merits of this bold and expansive plan to turn Australia into a renewable energy powerhouse.

We’ll be there, fresh from the Climate Change and Business Conference, which has seen politicians strutting their stuff and real business leaders telling it as it needs to be. More reports next week.

While this weekend, Brisbane is the place to be. On Saturday there’s the Make Poverty History event at Bulimba when yours truly will have his say. There’s even a chance Kevin Rudd will make an appearance.

On Sunday, Walk Against Warming in Brisbane city will have a decided election campaign feeling. People and organisations will be out in force to remind politicians of the importance of real climate change policy to vote on instead of more deferral. Read More

Beyond Zero Emissions                    

If you care about clean energy, make sure you read this amazing report or participate in forthcoming launches which are happening in many of the capital cities around Australia.

The Sydney launch is happening on 18 August and is a star-studded affair with speakers like:

• Hon. Bob Carr – Former NSW Premier
• Hon. Malcolm Turnbull – Federal MP for Wentworth
• Senator Scott Ludlam – Federal Senator WA
• Matthew Wright – Executive Director Beyond Zero Emissions
• Allan Jones MBE – Chief Development Officer, Energy & Climate Change, City of Sydney
• MC – Quentin Dempster – journalist and broadcaster

Stay tuned for a date/venue for Brisbane’s launch.

The plan is the culmination of over 12 months and thousands of hours of pro bono work by engineers, scientists and postgraduate students.  The plan is a collaboration between the climate solutions think tank Beyond Zero Emissions, and the University of Melbourne Energy Institute.  This plan is unique in Australia.  It has been put together in a collaborative way involving over 50 technical experts.

It is a detailed and costed blueprint for transitioning our stationary energy sector to 100% renewable energy in ten years. The technologies utilised in this plan are commercially available now.

Check out the comments from international experts applauding the report at the website:

http://www.beyondzeroemissions.org/

or

http://www.energy.unimelb.edu.au/uploads/ZCA2020_Stationary_Energy_Report_v1.pdf

Don’t have time to read the report?

Listen to a radio interview with Phillip Adams at: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2010/2960195.htm

Phillip interviews Matthew Wright from Beyond Zero Emissions and co-author of Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan, Michael Shellenberger, the President and Co founder of the Breakthrough Institute, California and Don Henry, Executive Director, Australian Conservation Foundation.

Alternatively, hear Matthew’s speech at the Tasmanian launch at: http://vimeo.com/13173432

Make Poverty History

 Voters in the seat of Griffith will have the chance to learn and engage with the issue of the impact of climate change on poor and developing communities this Saturday 14th August at 3pm at Lourdes Hill College: Duhig Hall 86 Hawthorne Rd. Bulimba. Climate Change is an issue that is important to millions of Australians, but one in which the 2 major parties have been fairly quiet on so far this election.

Forum organiser Gillian Marshall (World Vision) states: “Climate change will affect everyone, but it will affect poor people in developing countries first and most dramatically. Yet it’s rich countries like Australia that produced the vast majority of carbon emission that have caused climate change.”

This forum is part of a national series of electorate forums around the country normally connecting local constituents, particularly in marginal seats, with the three major parties to hear about their policies relating to global poverty. Kevin Rudd MP, the member for Griffith has been invited to the forum this weekend and has expressed his support for Make Poverty History in the past. Organisers still await a response from his office.

Speakers will include Ken Hickson (ABC Carbon and Governor of WWF Australia) Dr Ken Anthony (Global Change Institute) and the event will be moderated by Phil Smith from 612 local ABC radio. The program and speakers will remain but the program will be a movable feast if Rudd MP chooses to attend. If this is the case, the panel will also include Griffith Greens candidate: Emma Kate Rose and Executive Director of Oxfam and Co-Chair of MPH: Andrew Hewett.

Ken Hickson, author “The ABC of Carbon” and speaker at the event; Is convinced that climate change will make matters so much worse for millions of people already living close to the edge in developing countries. “They are the most vulnerable, as extreme weather conditions, temperature increases and rising sea levels will seriously affect food production and life itself.”

The Make Poverty History event is to get voters to consider policy around this issue, particularly parties greenhouse emission targets, which should be 40% from 1990 levels by 2020 and Australia’s fair share of funding for adaptation and mitigation against the worst affects of climate change which should be additional to aid level commitments.

Griffith MPH/MDG Forum

When: Saturday 14th August: Gather from 2.30pm till 4pm (Afternoon tea from 2.30pm).

Where: Lourdes Hill College: 86 Hawthorne Rd. Bulimba, Duhig Hall

Who: Moderator: Phil Smith (612 ABC Radio), Ken Hickson (Director ABC Carbon), Dr. Ken

Anthony (Global Change Institute) local international speaker, MPH, The Lyrical (band).

Kevin Rudd MP (ALP), Emma Kate Rose (Greens) and Rebecca Docherty (LNP) have been

invited.                                          

RSVP: m.hughes@theoaktree.org or P: 0448 280 117

Walk against warming

All political party leaders and one significant former leader have been invited to march in unity for a healthy climate. Larissa Waters from the Greens has already accepted, we hope the others who have campaigned all over Brisbane will join the people and Unite For A Healthy Climate!

We hope our leaders seeking election re-consider and all offer real climate change policy to vote on instead of more deferral, we don’t want the Office of Climate Change to effectively be the Office Of No Change!

Linda Selvey (CEO Greenpeace), Wanita Limpus (Kiribati Australia), Professor Ian Lowe, Graham Readfearn, John Schluter and Toby Hutcheon will also be there, along with Q-Song finalist The Medics performing in a free concert with legendary Coloured Stone frontman Bunna Lawrie and local favourite Gowiiee Pa’ul. There will be great festival food with Flowers of the World, Conscious Kitchen and Orgazmic Langos along with all the great conservation and solar energy exhibits.

You could be the tipping point for a cooler Australia to Unite For a Healthy Climate. Be there this Sunday from 11am!

                        Walk Against Warming 2010

Sponsors: Australian Ethical Investment, B105, Channel 7, Greenfest, Greenpeace, Oxfam, The Jack Thompson Foundation, The Printing Office, The Wilderness Society, Triple M, Queensland Conservation Council, Quest Community Newspapers

Exhibitors: Australian Ethical Investment, Australian Marine Conservation, Australian Certified Organic, Biological Farmers of Australia, Climate Change Networks Queensland, Conscious Kitchen, Flowers of the World, Orgazmic Langos, Oxfam, Sea Shepherd, Solar Guys, Solahart, The Greens, The Wilderness Society. To secure one of the last two available exhibitor sites apply here, exhibitors stalls open from 10:00

Morning MC: John Schluter Channel 7

Afternoon MC: Graham Readfearn Read Graham’s new site after The Green Blog here

10:00 Exhibitor Stalls Open

11:00 Welcome to Country: Aunty Carol Currie (Council of Elders)

11:15 Queensland Conservation Council – Toby Hutcheon

11:30 Unite for a Healthy Climate – Jack Thompson

11:35 Walk Against Warming 2010: Enjoy walking in unity for a cooler Australia through the city streets. Route is King George Square, Adelaide St, Edward St, Mary St, George St, Adelaide St, King George Square.

12:30 Ian Lowe – President ACF

13:00 Linda Selvey – CEO Greenpeace

13:15 Wanita Limpus – Kiribati Australia

13:30 Music: Bunna Lawrie (Coloured Stone)

14:30 Music: The Medics (Q Song Finalists and Deadly Award Winners)

15:30 End

You can be the tipping point, on the last Sunday before the election, for a cooler Australian economy transformed by clean energy, transportation and healthier outcomes for all. Let’s call on our leaders to provide real climate change policy to vote on instead of more deferral.

“The Fierce Urgency of Now”

When Martin Luther King said that he could have been talking about climate change and the devastating consequences of inaction. Disasters abound around the world right now and we are forced to look beyond the ongoing Australian election campaign, which gives many of us little hope to get our teeth into. Pakistan, Russia, China and California are all having to deal with the devastating consequences of extreme weather and, as Munich Re tells us from its most  in-depth studies, this is what we have to come to expect based on climate change scenarios. Bad, but true. We cannot go past Professor Ross Garnaut to salute this week for his outspoken views on Government inaction and leadership woes.  Some big events are coming up which might help demonstrate that the community at large – and business notably – are not standing back waiting for a lead from Government. Look out for the pre-election Walk Against Warming in Brisbane, Beyond Zero Emissions plan for a 100% renewable energy future, and the Climate Change and Business Conference in Sydney. We acknowledge some innovations in transport from China, a study on car use versus air transport, and what the Northern Territory is doing for conservation and the climate. We also have some Green Deals to consider, what London is doing about wind power and what Lend Lease wants to do with solar. Food security raises its ugly head and scientists weigh up whether they are communicating effectively. We reserve the last word for a personalised revisitation to Singapore and what we managed to uncover. – Ken Hickson