Sustaining energy in a changing climate (Inter)National and WA Perspective.
UWA Business School
Monday 19 October 2010
Prof Ray Wills
Chief Executive Officer
Western Australian Sustainable Energy Association Inc.
The winds and waves are always on the side of the
ablest navigators. -- Edward Gibbon
Welcome to Australia
A changing climate for business and the
community
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The science is in, the globe is warming, and we must
both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and rapidly
prepare for adaptation to climate change.
A raft of immediately accessible and affordable
solutions to reduce greenhouse emissions and provide
alternative sources of energy are already in our
possession - we can act today.
Some businesses and members of the community are
understandably nervous about the economic
ramifications of measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in part because not enough work has been
done to assist them understand these issues – this will
impact on business opportunities.
Sustainability in a changing climate for the
community - and business.
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McDonald's Corp. is blogging on the environment.
Starbucks Corp. has a green-themed online game.
Hilton Hotels Corp. linked manager pay to green outcomes.
Corporates have worked for decades on pro-environment
strategies and corporate social responsibility - concerns about
global warming among consumers is accelerating change.
Internalising costs.
Businesses in green buildings report improved productivity,
better staff retention, fewer sick days, millions of dollars in
energy savings and a reduced environmental footprint.
Some companies that "go green” seen a 25% increase in trade
with eco-shoppers and eco-traders, with a trend for green
businesses to only deal with other green businesses.
First - some science…
The public record
Greenhouse and global warming
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Greenhouse theory
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Anthropogenic global warming theory late 1960’s
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Basis first proposed by in 1824
Greenhouse = earth’s “blanket” average temperature about 15°C; otherwise would be -18°C
UN and IMO lead debate late 1979
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change formed 1988
Rio 1992 Earth Summit, Kyoto 1997 …
Warming of climate is now unequivocal – global
increases in air and ocean temperatures, melting of
snow and ice, and rising sea level.
The enhanced greenhouse effect is not hypothesis
- it is empirically and theoretically well-established.
The Pentagon? A liberal Hotbed?
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This year, the Pentagon called climate change a threat to national
security that "may spark or exacerbate future conflicts." The
assessment was part of the Pentagon's official review of military risks,
and labeled global warming "an accelerant of instability.”
The Australian Academy of Science says the world is warming, that
carbon emissions are driving change, that these emissions arise from
human activity, and that if we do not reduce emissions, significant
impacts on our society and environment will result.
Royal Society “Climate change: a summary of the science” says that
there is strong evidence that over the last half century, the earth’s
warming has been caused largely by human activity. The report
restates a previous firm position, yes, conceding there is more to know,
but reaffirming we already know enough to act.
Almost all of the assembled governments of the world, most of the large
publically listed companies, inclusive of banks, insurers, miners, and
engineering firms, accept that human induced warming is a critical issue
on which we need to act.
Diminishing resources
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Published numbers:
1,317,000 million barrel reserve
consumption at 84 million bpd
= 43 years supply remaining.
Oil is the end product of marine
plants captured atmospheric
carbon, the majority of reserves
created over a period of
30 or 40 million years starting around 100 million years ago.
In 150 years, human activity has released carbon dioxide stored
in oil that probably took around 20 million years to accumulate in
fossil reserves, and in another 50 years, the remaining 20 million
years worth of fossil carbon will be released back in to the
atmosphere.
Global impact
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FlightSuite, NHAW, Technorama, NASA - world flight patterns over 24 hours
GDP vs CO2
Copenhagen
Instrumental record - temperature
The price of non-renewable
The sustainable energy industries
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Renewable energy generation
- domestic and commercial scale
- passive design, energy displacement, electricity
Energy efficiency
Architecture and design
Building and construction
Domestic and commercial appliances
Industrial processes, machinery and vehicles
Planning, infrastructure and transport
Commercial offices, retail centres, factories, hospitals, schools
and universities, homes and multi-unit residential facilities
Professional services including educators, consultants, lawyers
All technologies have paybacks
Global renewables 2008 and 2009
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2008 the world invested more in dollar terms on renewable
energy ($155 billion) than on conventional energy ($140 billion)
Almost 50% of new generation built around the globe last year
(2009) was renewable energy - 80 GW of renewable power
capacity built compared to 83 GW of fossil fuel plants
China added almost half of the total with 37 GW of renewable
energy last year, making China the world's leader in renewable
energy generation
Renewable sources now 25% global power (electricity) capacity
1,230 GW out of
4,800 GW total (all sources, including coal, gas, nuclear)
60% of newly installed power capacity in Europe renewable
more than 50% newly installed in the US renewable
In Australia renewable projects 24% - according to ABARE data
Global renewables 2009
Global renewables 2009
Bioenergy
Some examples
 Algae fuel
 Bagasse
 Biodiesel
 Biogas
 Biomass
 Cellulosic ethanol
 Ethanol fuel
 Landfill gas
 Vegetable oil
Wind
World clean energy
Bloomberg-Liebreich.www.iea.org
Solar energy
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Solar Energy - Photovoltaics (PV)
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Grid-connected, or stand alone for remote telecoms,
infrastructure and water pumping. PV modules in niche apps emergency phone, street/other outdoor lighting, marine nav.
Thin film, conventional, advanced/sliver cell, CSPV (4:3:2:1)
World clean energy
Bloomberg-Liebreich.www.iea.org
World clean energy
Bloomberg-Liebreich.www.iea.org
Installing solar pv
Solar thermal
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Low-Temperature Collectors
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Medium-Temperature Collectors
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Used for space/water heating
Heat swimming pools
Industrial - salt production in
salt farms!
Hot water needed for residential
and commercial use
High-Temperature Collectors:
Concentrated solar power
Heat storage
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Heat storage - transfer
the heat to a substance
(molten salt, silicon phase change products, pressurized steam)
which can hold the heat with a high energy density.
Water based
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Hydro and in-stream
Ocean current including tidal
Wave energy technology
Geothermal
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Geothermal installations tap heat
either for electrical generation or
direct use of the heat.
8000MW of electrical generating capacity in 24 countries worldwide
15,000 MW direct heat applications including heat pumps in 71
countries for residential or commercial sectors
 space/water heating,
 laundries,
 textile processes,
 greenhouse/aquaculture,
 food dehydration.
Renewable energy generation
Biomass
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The resource
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Resource distribution
- solar, geothermal,
Solar
wind, wave, tidal,
ocean current
Bioenergy and
biomass
productivity
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Geothermal
Wind
Wave
Current
Private transport
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Fuel efficiency, other energy sources
Transport
Energy storage key
New technologies may be disruptive
Industrial vehicles
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Biofuels and hybrid
diesel/electrics
Commercial
vehicles
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Mitsubishi Fuso
Smith Newton
electric truck
London Bus
Honda electric diesel
Oshkosh Military Vehicle
Electric transport
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Series 700 Shinkansen
train – 285 km/h
Bombardier wireless
light rail
Slim Ride -15 passengers
Flying fuels
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Monday February 25, 2008
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Virgin Atlantic Stages the First Biofuel Flight
British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic has
completed the first commercial airline flight partially
powered by biofuel.
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Tuesday October 30, 2007
U.S.A.F. Tests New
Synthetic Fuel on Plane
Floating fuels
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18 December 2007
German Company
Plans SkySail-Powered
Atlantic Voyage
SkySails-System into
operation aboard
Germany’s largest fishing
vessel – the ROS-171
“Maartje Theadora” – North Sea
near Ijmuiden, Netherlands
8 March 2010.
Green cities - Stirling City Centre
Smart grids, smart houses (and offices)
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Integrated energy planning
Smart grids to coordinate the actions of devices such as
loads & generators
Smart politics
Energy efficiency
Sustainable energy
- and energy efficiency
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Energy efficiency in all forms
Distributed, renewable energy
Known costs, resource life 1000++ years
Stored energy in commodities, desal
Energy storage key to:
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improved energy delivery
increased reliability
reduced emissions
Walmart
Wesfarmers
Waves of innovation
What we can create
with
energy conservation,
energy efficiency,
and
renewable energy
Enterprise Connect is an Australian Government initiative that
provides an Advisory Service with grant assistance to eligible
Australian SMEs.
Newcastle Innovation, The Australian Institute of Commercialisation
and the WA Sustainable Energy Association are partners supporting
the delivery of services to industry through the
Clean Energy Innovation Centre
WA SEA
Sustainable energy peak body
Australia’s largest energy chamber
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Cooperative Research Centre on electrified
transport infrastructure
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National Green Vehicle Fleet Lunch – 11 Nov 10
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WA SEA facilitating CRC bid – urban/regional,
private/public transport, commercial/industrial/mining
applications.
Key themes of the proposal are network interface and
performance, transport mobility and usability.
Open to all car manufacturers and fleet managers.
Energising SE Asia, Perth 23 - 26 March 2011
WA SEA
Sustainable energy peak body
Australia’s largest energy chamber
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Renamed: Sustainable Energy Association of Australia