Sunday 31 August 2008

Power from the Earth

Over the past century, we have built our lifestyle on power and a main source of this is derived from burning coal from the Earth. Consistent power generation such as this provides baseload power, to supply power when it is needed. There are other ways to generate baseload, but one that is economic, easily available, less disruptive, and has extremely low carbon emissions is Geothermal, deriving power from the heat located at depths in the Earth. This power has also been used over the last century, but mainly where the heat was close to the surface, however there are many parts of the planet, including Australia, which have good heat resources at easy reach.

Using our significant expertise in mining technology, Australia has many major projects underway to utilise this heat for power in SA, TAS and QLD. However, an American company called RASER has developed a Geothermal process which can be built as small scale power plants within a few months. They claim that their proprietary technology will improve power generation efficiencies by up to 30%. Their first power plant is scheduled to open later this year in Utah and plans to produce power for 9,000 USA homes (translate that to about 8,500 Australian homes hehe).

One of the keys arguments from the mining industry, is that moving from coal production would cost jobs. It seems to me, with our considerable pool of talented people, a transition to geothermal makes sense, for us as a nation, for those who work in the mining industry, and for stewardship of our quite sizeable patch of Earth.

Friday 29 August 2008

Think Nano

As part of the Ultimo Science Festival in August, Prof. Geoff Smith of UTS gave an easy to understand talk about Functional Future Homes and how to make the average house more energy efficient using nanotechnology. And as these products develop, nanotechnology offers businesses in the building industry significant new niche markets.

We were told about a paint which, if painted on roofs in hot climates, could save up to 50% of the air-conditioning load, new additives that improve the thermal mass of walls, and processes that change the properties of glass and improve insulation. And the bonus for these changes, is to produce environments that have "natural dynamics" - where there there is more natural variation of temperature and light. So that we save energy plus live and work in more pleasant environments. So for businesses in the building industry looking for a new opportunity -it could be -think small, think nano.

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Intelligent Grid = Opportunities


Yesterday, I attended the launch of the Intelligent Grid Research Program (iGrid) at UTS in Sydney. This is a 3 year series of research projects and a collaboration between the CSIRO and several Australian Universities to investigate "smaller, greeener energy generators and advanced control systems".

The launch was a smorgasbord of ideas from industry, Energy providers, Universities, and CSIRO, and included two video conference keynotes - one from Nancy Ryan, California Public Utilities Commission, and the other from Associate Prof. Ho Hiang Kwee, Director A*Star Sinergy Centre, Singapore. While there was obviously a huge amount of expertise (virtual and in real time time space) in one room, it also became clear that no one person or entity had all the answers. And that the ideas would come out of initiatives such as these. But ideas must be turned into practical solutions, and that's the opportunity for business and industry.

Intelligent grid's of the future will provide the flexibility that we need to integrate local power generation and help us manage peak loads. Smart metering is a key to engaging users and to help modify energy patterns, and will provide important data for planning. Some of the seven identified projects will also address the regulatory barriers to the Intelligent grid -and this will underpin the next steps - a Grid that meets our needs in a world where smarter and smaller are an integral part of the solution. I see this as a hopeful and necessary part of future intelligent grids, where businesses, or individual homeowners are able to make intelligent choices about sourcing power from a range of suppliers of all levels and sizes.

Sunday 17 August 2008

Go Meet Online

Change in society always brings new business opportunities - and I have been working on one of these opportunites over the past few weeks. I was contracted to help develop a case study for small businesses to connect online with other small business owners, with suppliers and with clients. There are a flurry of new online meeting products now available to allow users to see each other, share desktops, and work on documents together at different offices. Our parameters meant that we wanted a program that would work on both Mac and PC environments, offer voice over IP, and be fairly simple to use.

We used an online meeting program called Megameeting, which allowed ten or so business owners to meet online in a virtual meeting room where we could chat, share tips, and discuss business challenges. While there definitely are improvements still to come in this emerging area, I have been amazed how everyone liked (even enjoyed!) this form of communication. It was great to conduct a meeting without having to catch public transport or fight through traffic and hunt for parking places. And with high petrol prices and airfares on the rise, it makes huge sense for business owners to consider using online tools where possible.

So "going green" may be as simple as changing the way you connect with those you need to meet regularly - and that could be just one more way to put you ahead of your competitors.

Wednesday 13 August 2008

Business Expansion in Renewables

If business expansion can be measured by jobs, then Germany, Spain, the USA, China and even Kenya are on this expansion path. According to WorldWatch Institute, Germany’s indirect and direct jobs in the renewables sector is set to reach 400-500,000 in 2020, well up from the 259,000 in 2006. Spain has 89,000 people employed mainly in wind power and PV, as well as another 99,000 indirect jobs. Despite a patchwork of initiatives, the USA had about 446,000 direct and indirect renewable jobs in 2006, and this is likely to increase significantly in 2009. In China, it is estimated that 1 million people already have jobs as a result of the renewable industry, with about 600,000 in the solar thermal industries. And countries such as India, Bangladesh and Kenya are all increasing their employment in wind and solar PV industries.

So it’s timely that we have just released our Opportunities section of AussieRenewables, where you can list your contract, full or part-time time renewable positions, or offer a business opportunity within Australia and NewZealand. Over the next few years, securing the best staff in a growing market will be one of the keys to success – so use creative ways to promote your opportunity and consider this site.