Thanks Paul. Great summary. I thought it a fantastic
seminar.<BR><BR>Jenny<BR>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">--------- Original Message --------<BR>From:
"Paul Pollard" <pollard@netspeed.com.au><BR>To:
"peakoil@act-peakoil.org" <peakoil@act-peakoil.org><BR>Subject:
[Peakoil] Energy symposium last Friday<BR>Date: 22/08/06 05:33<BR><BR><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2><BR>I spent most of last Friday hearing most of
the speakers of an energy<BR>symposium at the ANU held as part of the
Science Festival.<BR><BR>Many of the speakers were the Australian leaders in
their field, ranging over<BR>nuclear, transport, hot rocks, wind, etc.
Overall it was very informative,<BR>recognising that speakers have their own
issues to push.Presentation was<BR>powerpoint; no papers were
issued.<BR><BR>Much of what was said was familiar to me and no doubt to many
on the peak oil<BR>list. Following is a few points which particularly struck
me, or were new,<BR>which I hope will make sense.<BR><BR>Graeme Pearman (was
head of CSIRO atmosphere division).<BR>- Data from many ports round
Australia now showing gradual rise in sea levels<BR>over a century, due not
to ice melting but to expansion of sea waters.<BR>- 4th Assessment Report of
IPCC is due in 2007.<BR>- Generally accepted now that CO2 in atmosphere
effectively lasts 80 years.<BR>- Coal industry now recognises global warming
problem and the need to change,<BR>and need guidance because they don't want
to invest billions in technology<BR>that will in time be
penalised.<BR><BR>Andy Rigg - Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
(geosequestration) CRC<BR>- The capture and compression part of the process
is 70-90% of the cost of<BR>this approach, storage a lesser part.<BR>- CO2
is held in tiny gaps in the rock, due to rock's porosity.<BR>- A CCS cost of
US$20 a tonne is looking feasible. (Comment: I think this<BR>depends on
suitable sites for power stations, but on a rough calculation this<BR>would
mean only about a 25% rise in the cost of generating coal
based<BR>electricity in Australia, to say 5 cents a Kwh, so if it comes to
pass this<BR>would make CCS with coal-fired power very greenhouse
competitive).<BR>- There is considerable experience with piping CO2
already.<BR>- There are plenty of suitable geosequestration potential sites
in Australia.<BR>- See <A class=autolink href="http://www.co2crc.com.au/"
target=_blank>www.CO2CRC.com.au</A><BR><BR>Doon Wyborn - Geodynamics - SA
hot rocks developer.<BR>- They are drilling down to 3.5-4 km, in their
northern SA site.<BR>- All of Australia's electricity grid requirements for
70 years could be<BR>provided from just this one area of hot rocks.<BR>- If
they drilled down to 6 km, this figure could be doubled.<BR>- They have
successfully further fractured the rock at 3.5 km with<BR>high-pressure
water, a necessary step.<BR>- In time improvements in drilling, to reach
depths of 8 km, will enable<BR>geothermal energy to be tapped anywhere on
earth. Their area is unique<BR>because it has heat in a geologically stable
area at only 3.5 km.<BR>- They are looking to reducing Australia's emissions
by 9% by 2030. (Comment:<BR>this seems to contradict his statement about
providing all of our<BR>electricity, but perhaps it's due to gradualness of
scaling up).<BR><BR>Aidan Byrne - ANU - nuclear<BR>- Best to site nuclear
power plants in Hunter Valley, Latrobe Valley because<BR>of existing
electricity grid layout.<BR><BR>Mark Diesendorf - UNSW - wind power<BR>-
Capacity used in wind power over time is 20-40%, compared with 2-10%
with<BR>hydro.<BR>- Wind power is not 'intermittent' but variable, and can
be managed in a grid,<BR>to competitively provide 20%. Above this point less
economic.<BR>- Currently wind power is cheaper than nuclear in Britain, US,
and cheaper<BR>than gas in US.<BR>- In Australia costs 7.5-8.5 cents Kwh
(which Diesendorf claimed would be<BR>cheaper than coal with
goesequestration (CCS).<BR>- Wind needs a more distributed grid - current
grid pricing discriminates<BR>against local, low transmission-cost energy,
and subsidises large generators<BR>further away.<BR><BR>David Lamb -
Transport group CSIRO<BR>- ABARE forecasts on oil production, consumption
unrealistic - aren't<BR>reconciled.<BR>- Big price increases in oil
likely.<BR>- There is no easy alternative to conventional oil in medium
term, and outcome<BR>is likely to mean a mixture of transport answers, such
as small electric<BR>cars, hydrogen for buses using CNG, electric bikes. (He
said China was making<BR>electric bikes by the million).<BR>- Australia
needs future transport planning, which isn't happening at all
at<BR>present.<BR><BR>Hugh Saddler - energy policy consultant.<BR>- Present
policies not encouraging a properly competitive energy technology<BR>market,
taking greenhouse effects into account.<BR>- Combined cycle gas turbines
(CCGT) (very efficient gas for electricity)<BR>without geosequestration was
almost as efficient as coal-with-<BR>geosequestration in reducing
Australia's emissions.<BR>- To fairly encourage alternative power, the
electricity grid needs to be a<BR>web not as at present a set of lines
radiating from coal fired power.<BR>- China especially, and India, are
outpacing Australia on new<BR>greenhouse-better energy technologies,
contrary to Government claims about<BR>Australian
leadership.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Peakoil
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