An interesting article on how just Nuclear power cant be the solution to global warming. Eventhough the assumptions of the report are yet to be analyzed, the facts are pretty interesting. The last few lines made absolute sense to me!!!!
“By promoting the commercial production and use of plutonium, the Bush administration is facilitating the spread of nuclear bomb materials around the world,” said Edwin Lymann, a scientist working on security issues for the group.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21909856-5005080,00.html
I have heard a number of views and I personally believe that a carbon tax would disturb the cheap economy balance boasted by the fossil fuel industry. I thought this balance shift would help the renwable industry.
But, looking at the proposed fuel tax in US, am afraid it may just have the opposite effect. It is mentioned that the tax money is going to be used in the development of road/mass transit and airport facilities. Atleast the development of mass transit is a worthy idea!!!!
When we are looking forward to social changes in travel pattern/mode, I get a feeling that the development of more facilities would encourage people to take up more and more of lengthy/extravagant travel than necesssary…..
What do you guys think about such a legislation??!!!
Reuters Article
While there is significant talk to put brakes on the Fossil fuel industry and the associated mining industry, the Gov just seems to be pressing hard on the accelerator….Carrying forward on the Artic-ice discussion…I guess we need a social-political-technical revolution..!!!! Any fancy names for the revolution people???
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22438686-5005080,00.html
Whom are you voting for ???? Here, they promise a bright future…!!!!!
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22502698-29277,00.html
I have just finished reading Heat by George Monbiot. In this book he has set out to write a layman’s guide to preventing catastrophic global warming. Overall he has done a pretty good job. It is an easy read despite being jam packed full of information. The book is very well referenced with most claims easily linked to one or more sources. This is important when dealing with subject matter that is still plagued with conflicting claims.
Monbiot presents a number of interesting strategies for reducing our greenhouse emissions. Underpinning it all is the notion that every person on the planet is entitled to a ration of CO2 that they are allowed to produce. Many of his strategies depend on fairly dramatic social change rather than any groundbreaking technology. While this is a sound approach it certainly highlights that the biggest challenges will be socio-economic and political.
There is a more thorough review over at energybulletin but I would certainly recommend the book to anyone taking our course or generally interested in sustainable energy.
I would be interested to hear other people’s views on the strategies that Monbiot puts forward.
The UK Conservative Party have just released a detailed report that amongst other things calls for emission reductions of at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, a zero waste society, feed-in tariffs and a ban on coal-fired power by 2020. And this is from the equivalent of the Liberal Party! It really highlights how far behind Australia is in the AGW debate.
The link to the full report is: http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=138484
Hi guys,
I’ve been reading about how in the last two weeks ice cover in the Arctic has fallen to record lows. The ice sheet is in terminal collapse, melting three times faster than the most pessimistic predictions from just five years ago. It is now felt that the Arctic will be ice-free in summer months from 2020, even sooner. On top of the devastation this will bring to other species, the effect of the ice loss will very significantly boost the warming of the Greenland ice sheet, leading to multiple metre sea level rises by the end of the century.
Below is a link to just one of hundreds of international articles reporting the findings, a story that somehow missed Australia. I feel that now more than ever a rapid transition to zero emissions is a moral imperative. As sustainable energy students I think we should prioritise rapid implementation of zero emission projects above all other ideals. I feel our current approach to engineering is too narrow and specialised, and in a way is irresponsible. We need to bring urgency to the issues we are discussing, rather than focusing on scholarly ideals such as contributing to knowledge. We are in a unique position to affect meaningful change.
Like to know your thoughts.
Read article here
PVWATTS is an online tool for calculating energy produced by a grid connected PV system. It can be used to calculate energy output for various locations around the world including Melbourne.
I have heard some vastly different estimates of the payback time for various micro generation technologies. I am currently reading Heat by George Monbiot and he claims the financial payback time for domestic PV is 35 years. This in the UK where the government subsidies are different and the average solar radiation is less than Australia. The source for this claim is an article in Energy Policy (RMIT access only). This same paper claims a 14 year payback for micro cogeneration systems.
Monbiot is extremely critical of micro wind turbines, claiming that they will cause more problems than they solve and would only be capable of generating 5% of a household’s electricity requirements.
Last night we heard from Bill Proudfoot who claimed a payback time for PV’s of 15 years. I don’t remember if he mentioned a payback time for micro cogen systems.
In terms of energy payback I have heard figures of 2.5 years for PV. But i have also heard people claim that they never payback the energy they consume in production.
Does anyone have some more reliable figures relating to energy and financial payback times?
This is the link to a report by the AGO in the year 2002 looking at the pathways and polices towards the implementation of the National Emissions Trading Scheme. There was a final report published this year. Unfortunately, the AGO website says that the report is no longer available or removed. This old report gives an idea of how the future system is going to be….With all the excitement about the latest carbon trading price, this may be of interest to some people
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/emissionstrading/pubs/agosubmission.pdf
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