Date Posted: 10-Sep-2010

AUSTRALIA READ FOR BIOFUELS

Fluctuations in the price of oil will determine the viability of Australia's fledging biofuels industry.

The newly elected Federal Labor Government is face up to the reality that almost every country in Europe subsidizes biofuels and, in Brazil and USA, every fuel bowser is required to carry a mix of ethanol.

Australia is far behind the ball by still debating whether ethanol should also be a mandatory mix when cars fill up with petrol or diesel.

Brazil has revolutionized its transport system by producing E85 fuel. Ironically many engines used in Brazilian cars are made in Australia.

CSIRO Carbon Futures Research manager Paul Graham said Holden produces cars that can run on E85 ? so there is no technical barrier for Australia even through there is some doubt about stable investment.

"The issues the industry faces are mainly to do with the volatility of the oil market, which makes it difficult to invest in a biofuel refining infrastructure over the long-term," he said.

CSIRO has completed a study which found around 30 per cent of Australian liquid fuel could be provided through renewable fuels that could be grown in the agricultural sector.

Options for producing biofuels in Australia inclue sugar and non-food sources that include stubble or forest waste - the woody parts of plants we aren't using in other areas.

 CSIRO estimates that without having any significant impact of food production Australia could produce in the long-term 15 to 20 per cent of its fuel requirements from biofuels.

Date Posted: 09-Sep-2010

BP SPILL COST TOP $8 BILLION

Oil giant BP says the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has so far cost the British company over $US8 billion.

The figure includes the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, static kill and cementing, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid and federal costs, BP said in a statement.

The April 20 spill was triggered when an explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig. The flow of oil into the sea was not fully stemmed until July 15.

BP has forecast the disaster will cost a total of about $US32.2 billion, after pushing the group into a $US16.9 billion loss in the second quarter - the biggest quarterly loss in British corporate history.

The statement says BP has agreed to set up a $US20 billion compensation fund for residents affected by the spill.

Date Posted: 09-Sep-2010

CHINA MOVES OUTSIDE SOLAR

China is innovating beyond the solar sector - 70% of new energy venture capital deals between 2006 and 2009 were outside of solar power.

Some analysts estimate has China on track to build at least 20 nuclear power plants of 2 GigaWatts each for the next five years.

The government main concerns are related to issues of security, economic prosperity and keeping a growing population content, and are making spending on green initiatives a top priority.

"Parallel policies are essential," explained Wang Yi, deputy head of Institute of Policy and management, China Academy of Science. "The government must gradually lift fossil fuel prices while granting incentives to non-fossil fuels to establish a long-term price signal."

Companies such as nuclear reactor manufacturers Areva of France, wind power equipment makers Gamesa of Spain, India-listed Suzlon and solar power companies such as US-based First Solar and China's Yingli are waiting to see if Beijing is ready to use their technologies on a massive scale.

Date Posted: 09-Sep-2010

CHINA'S NEW GREEN PLAN

China's will soon put into motion - as a central controlled forward strategy - a comprehensive green plan that will spend US$736 billion on nuclear, wind, solar and biomass energy, writes Justin Anderson in the Weekend Daily Planet global newspaper.

China plans to make the cleaner fuels competitive with cheap and CO2-intensive coal without harming industrial growth.

Cross-sector coordination for cleaner power has gained urgency as major Chinese cities choke under a haze of pollution caused by rapid economic growth.

"Chinese leaders are dead serious about environment, more serious than the outside world thinks," said Yan Kefeng of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "But the challenges are huge."

China's ability to build cheaper coal plants makes it hard for the world's No. 1 coal producer and user to switch to other sources. The generators, known as supercritical plants, produce about 15 percent less CO2, at a third to a half of the costs in most OECD countries.

In recent months Beijing has drummed up support for hydropower, calling for quicker building of dams after recent years had seen plans scaled back due to tighter environmental rules and the costs or relocating the population.

Hydropower is seen as playing a big role in making the 15% primary consumption target for renewables.

The new sources of power generation include the world's largest hydropower project at Three Gorges on the Yangtze River costing $294 billion to enable the 15 percent target for renewable by 2020.

State energy giant PetroChina is leading the foray to develop cleaner burning gas sources to supply nearly 10% of China's total energy needs by 2020, from 4% now, to help achieve the CO2 target.

Beijing aims to cut carbon intensity as much as 45% from 2005 levels by 2020 and increase the share of renewables to 15% of primary energy consumption.

That is nearly double the current ratio and would make the country a leader in green energy manufacturing and use.

The Cleantech group reported that the government has several goals in its five-year Science and Technology Plan to reduce China's reliance on foreign technology and increase domestic contributions to technology and the number of Chinese working in the field.

China reportedly has over 1,600 government-supported incubators and science parks - many involving cleantech projects. Incentives such as preferential tax treatments, favorable financing policies, and government procurement policies encourage R&D institutions to partner more with the private sector.

"This new structure prepares China to be especially competitive in the world market," said the Cleantech report. "The Chinese government has increased R&D spending while decentralizing R&D institutions and encouraging partnerships with the private sector."

While 51% of Chinese investment for renewable energy was given to solar firms, the remaining 49% went to a diverse cross-section - materials science, agriculture, water and wastewater, energy storage and energy efficiency have also emerged as areas of interest.

Indications are that China is innovating beyond the solar sector - 70% of new energy venture capital deals between 2006 and 2009 were outside of solar.

The government main concerns are related to issues of security, economic prosperity and keeping a growing population content, and are making spending on green initiatives a top priority.

"Parallel policies are essential," explained Wang Yi, deputy head of Institute of Policy and management, China Academy of Science. "The government must gradually lift fossil fuel prices while granting incentives to non-fossil fuels to establish a long-term price signal."

International firms involved in the sectors expected to receive the spending will receive a potential gold mine. Companies such as nuclear reactor manufacturers Areva of France, wind power equipment makers Gamesa of Spain, India-listed Suzlon and solar power companies such as US-based First Solar and China's Yingli are waiting to see if Beijing is ready to use their technologies on a massive scale. One estimate has China on track to build at least 20 nuclear power plants of 2 GigaWatts each for the next five years.

Date Posted: 08-Sep-2010

JAPAN CO2 TRADE 2013

Japan's mandatory emissions trading scheme set to start in April 2013 will cover large CO2 emitting companies.

A draft of the government's proposals has gone to an expert committee at the Environment Ministry, which aims to finalize its proposal for Japan's cap-and-trade scheme by the end of this year.

Issues to be discussed later include how CO2 emission quotas should be allocated and how big they should be, who should be responsible for CO2 emissions from electric power generation, and whether to link the scheme with similar ones abroad, the draft showed.

It also showed compliance companies would be able to emit more by using carbon offsets at home and from abroad.

Similar grants can be given to companies facing international competition, those whose CO2 emissions per unit of product are relatively high, and those whose products help cut CO2 emissions globally, such as solar panels and hybrid cars, the draft said.

Earlier this year, Japan's parliament discussed a climate change bill that included a shortlist of policy measures to achieve an ambitious goal of cutting emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels.

But the government gave up enacting the bill, which would have launched a nationwide compulsory emissions trading scheme, as time ran out before an upper house election in July.

Date Posted: 07-Sep-2010

PAKISTAN FLOODS INVESTIGATION

Climate scientists are investigating changes in atmospheric currents linked to devastating floods in Pakistan and wildfires in Russia.

Ghassem Asrar, director of the World Climate Research Programme, said changes, known as blocking episodes, can prevent humidity or hot weather dispersing.

That intensified heavy rain or heatwaves and locked them over an area, he explained, potentially with a growing impact on extreme weather events that scientists expect to happen more frequently with global warming.

Asrar said European researchers had modelled the blocking pattern in atmospheric currents and resulting weather behind the Pakistani rains and Russian heatwave a few weeks in advance.

They "clearly flagged this formation and kept track of it", said Asrar, whose program is partly linked to the UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

"We know for sure that the two events in Pakistan and Russia are linked," he added.

Asrar and the WMO underlined that the intense monsoon rain in Pakistan and heatwave in Russia, as well as rain-induced landslides in China and the split of a giant iceberg in Greenland in recent weeks were exceptional even by the standards of naturally-occurring climate extremes.

The WMO called the four "an unprecedented sequence of events" that "compare with, or exceed in intensity, duration or geographical extent, the previous largest historical events".

"This poses an urgent question for climate science: whether the frequency and longevity of the blocking episodes are going to change," the WMO said in a statement.

Date Posted: 06-Sep-2010

WIND PROJECT FOR AUSTRALIA

A huge wind project has been announced for southeastern Australia.

Approval has been given for a major wind farm near Nimmitabel on the Monaro and the Government has also signed an investigation licence agreement, to allow a Perth company to begin wave energy trials near Eden.

The wind-farm will power up to 120,000 homes and is expected to be operational by 2013.

The project will cost 700-million dollars, and will include up to 122 turbines.

The Federal Member for Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly said "Property owners need an extra string to their bow. "

"When you've got those drought conditions we've been enduring in recent times, regardless of what's happening in times of drought, these turbines will help generate income for those property owners that have them on their land.

"For the other property owners, they will probably benefit also from the extra technology and research and assistance that will flow."

The Western Australian company, Carnegie Wave Energy, will assess whether a plant should be installed at Eden to convert the power of ocean waves into electricity.

The Managing-Director, Dr Michael Ottaviano, says many factors will be examined.

"You look at the environmental impediments at the site, and nothing is environmentally benign so we want to make sure that we're not going into an area that might, in fact cause some sort of harm to the local environment," he said.

"We need to make sure, as well, that we're not in an area that's going to conflict with other users of that area."