[Peakoil] report on two recent events

[Jenny Goldie]

BlankREPORT ON ELECTRIC CAR FESTIVAL ON SUNDAY AND THE ENERGY FOR THE FUTURE SEMINAR YESTERDAY 

by ACTPO committee member Karin Geiselhart

Two events that point the way to some future directions in a peak oil/low
carbon world. The first was all about practice, the second included the
business and policy dimensions:

The electric car festival on Sunday was much bigger than the previous one
I attended, which must have been two years ago.

There was a much bigger range of electric cars, bikes, scooters and
hybrids. Much as we saw this year all over Europe, there is a blur
developing between types of vehicles.

The iMiev was on display with a second battery option, that would allow a
360km trip before recharging. That's a trip to Sydney, somewhat of a
benchmark for Canberrans.

My spouse missed out on a ride in the Tesla, since it was so cold and a
long wait, but he keeps quoting Top Gear's Jeremy that they are
'biblically fast'. For an eco-conscious sports car person they would be
the ideal choice (except that they are also biblically expensive)

There were also speakers and stands with community groups (Peak Oil would
have fit right in, or we could have left some leaflets with other groups
such as SEE-Change, perhaps an idea to discuss at the AGM)

I was particularly interested in the vertical axis wind generators,
designed for residential use. As these increase in capacity and come down
in price, they will start to compete with solar for domestic electricity
base load.

Possible limitations of lithium availability notwithstanding, the display
stands indicate that these batteries are now becoming more widespread and
diverse.

The second and also very well attended event was the Energy for the Future
seminar sponsored by the brand new Energy Change Institute at the ANU. It
also marked the launch of their Masters degree in Energy Change, which
starts next year.

Together with the undergrad degree now available at the ANU in sustainable
business (which is very popular) there is a clear trend towards energy and
environmentally oriented courses.

The Energy Change Institute operates from a perspective that acknowledges
both climate change and peak oil. Without choosing policies or
technologies, they are positioning themselves (with about 200 staff and
students) to be a central player in low carbon strategies.

However, several of the speakers have clear technological specialties.
Some of you will know of Prof Andrew Blakers, who has been developing
solar technologies for a very long time. (I first met him while doing my
PhD, when I worked for a few months on the media side of the Solar97
conference.)

Blakers presented a sanguine analysis on the growth of renewable energy,
including near exponential growth in solar and wind. He said the current
gov is 'chalk and cheese' compared to the previous, and is now supporting
much more investment in renewables. He thinks Australia can get to about
23% renewable by 2020.

The other speakers gave overviews of their specialties (no doubt with a
view to attracting students to the Masters program). These included policy
perspectives and Prof Faunce is especially interested in synthetic
photosynthesis, which he said 'turns buildings into trees', because they
can fix nitrogen and generate energy. Sounds very interesting.

Very good to see such activity in alternatives, but I didn't dare ask
their informed opinions on how intense and how quickly climate change is
occurring.

Regards,

Dr Karin Geiselhart

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