Sunday 30 November 2008

Giving greenfully!!



Christmas is just around the corner and it's that time where we all look for something to give our friends, relatives and, if we are in business, we may like to thank our key clients. When you select a gift, there is a new factor, as well as price and quality. This new factor is how this gift represents you as being someone who cares for the planet.

That does add some complexity - but it is quite simple. For your greetings, use email or cards printed on recycled paper. If you are purchasing sweets, chocolates, cheeses or other edibles, then consider locally produced instead of imported. For wines, consider wine from your own country - that's easy in Australia as we have a wide range of good local wineries. If your gift is one from another part of the world, then think about Fair Trade goods, such as Fair Trade coffee.

For a more expensive gift, you may like to give an experience, rather than something that may end up in a drawer unused. And think of experiences that are low impact, such as a voucher for a kayak or sailing cruise, rather than a jet boat around the bay. If you give a dinner in a restaurant, always ensure that the venue has a wide range of vegetarian options. Just use some thought so that the gift you give is one that is appreciated for its environmental impact as much as for its thought.

pic ex Flickr Christmas Gift Tags from MyTangerineDreams

Thursday 27 November 2008

Future Makers in Australia

Last night I attended the premiere of the Australian documentary film "The Future Makers", which displayed world leading renewable energy solutions, and was followed by a panel of some of those who were featured in the movie. These included Dr David Mills of Ausra and Dr Robert Dane who designed the Solar Sailor boat.

The movie also showed the hot rocks technology which is being developed in the Cooper Basin, wave power experiments where the waves action was being modelled on nature, and Dr Keith Lovegrove's thermochemical storage systems. It was a great little movie, and one I think that should be mandatory for all those who are trying to band aid the current power generation systems. The message in the movie was about re-thinking our power sources, and working together for this new future.

Saturday 22 November 2008

Speaking of Energy Entrepreneurs....

Last Friday, as part of a joint WADE and CSIRO conference group, I visited the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle, Australia, which is the headquarters for both CSIRO Energy Technology and the Energy Transformed Flagship. The building is experimental with considerable innovation in energy design with creative ways to reduce heat and lighting requirements, as well generating electricity in a variety of ways including integrated solar panels of various types. The Centre also provides a great environment to support thinking and research projects, and foster innovation about energy and local power, ie decentralised energy and power generation.

We were only afforded a brief overview, however it was heartening to see work being done on solar thermal and photovoltaic projects, wind, energy efficiency, and cogeneration. One of the projects is a called the "virtual power station", where a range of renewable energy generators, such as solar panels, could be grouped with a storage device to become a single electricity supplier, able to take advantage of high demand pricing in the network. Not only does this approach make renewable energy more dependable, projects such as the "virtual power station" increase our energy security, acting more like an energy Internet.

It was also heartening to learn that some of the projects, such as the solar thermal tower, are moving to joint venture early stage commercial projects, and that's exactly what we need...more renewable energy entrepreneurs!!

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Its a busy month in Australia

Another major November event for Australia is the Clean Energy Council 2008 Conference and Exhibition to be held at the Gold Coast in Queensland from the 24th to the 26th November. This annual event has an incredibly full program and includes Mr Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA) as a keynote speaker. According to the overview, this conference will be" industry focused" and "will address major issues surrounding the rapidly changing landscape of clean energy development in Australia as well as provide strategies on how the industry can meet growth demands."

If you are interested in the energy future of Australia, then this is one not to miss!!

Think, Plan and Go Commercial

If anyone wonders whether Australia makes a global impact on emissions then they should consider the following, which I obtained from the International Energy Agency’s web site . While these figures reflect the 2006 situation, it is sufficient to show that we as a nation are a major contributor to the emissions generated from coal.

Global Electricity Production from coal/peat (2006) in Twh
China ................. 2,301
United States ...... 2,128
India .................... 508
Germany .............. 302
Japan .................. 299
South Africa.......... 236
Australia ............ 199
Russia ................. 179
Korea .................. 153
United Kingdom ..... 152
Rest of the world. 1,298


We are definitely up there, at number 7 in terms of using coal, which is the oldest of the fossil fuels, and the one which is the most urgent to replace with low emission alternatives.

Last Saturday, I joined the "Walk Against Warming" in Sydney - but maybe we should have a "Think, Plan and Go Commercial against Warming". So I call upon our new energy entrepreneurs, to come up with your ideas to replace coal fired power generation at all levels, and hopefully more useful (if not more artistic!) than this effort which I found on my wanderings.

Saturday 15 November 2008

Ideas spin from ideas

It's a fast changing world, and with a "soon to be" President Obama taking the lead. With the new direction of energy self sufficiency, there will be a global "new energy" rush to provide products and services to increase supply of new energy and improve efficiency of existing energy use. So where do you fit in? What is your business idea, and how do you make it viable?

One of first places to look for clues is in conferences, where like minded people come together to share progress and to profile successes. In the next two weeks in Sydney, Australia we have the Decentralized Energy Technology, Policy and Opportunities conference and the combined ISES (International Solar Energy Society) and ANZSES conference. Its an information packed two weeks - for new energy scientists that's a feast, but for new energy entrepreneurs, it could be your key to a new business venture.

Sometimes it's about understanding the future, even more than the majority of people. Henry Ford is reputed to have said "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse". If you are considering a new venture and need inspiration, find and meet with others who are looking in the same direction. Find where you fit in this new energy future.

Monday 3 November 2008

Home Grown Solar

Last Friday, Solar Systems opened its new Bridgewater R&D facility near Bendigo (Vic) for testing of hi-tech photovoltaic technology. According to Solar Systems chariman, Michael Hamson, Bridgewater is a "a world-class, large scale research and development facility". Together with integrated energy company TRUenergy, it is proposed to develop a 154 MW heliostat concentrator solar PV plant in the Mildura region. It is planned that this project will lead to further expansion of solar plants across Australia and in Asia.

With huge investment happening in large scale solar plants in USA, Spain and Portugal it is timely that in a country overrun with sunshine, we are beginning to make progress in Australia's future energy supply, and even more pleasing to see an Aussie company driving this new direction.