Category: Archive

Gas for road transport a way to replace declining oil

admin /13 February, 2007

Senate committee report on Australia’s future oil shortage

Australia’s demand for petroleum has risen to more than 750,000 barrels a day and is projected to rise to more than 800,000 b/d by the end of the decade and over 1.2 million b/d by 2029-30, according to the Senate committee report on Australia’s future oil supply and alternative transport fuels, released last week,The Australian (12/2/07, p.32) reports.

Self-sufficiency will fall: "Australia’s net self-sufficiency in oil is expected to decline significantly as future discoveries are not expected to make up for the growth in demand and the decline in reserves as oil is produced," the report states.

Deficit for part of ’06: Analyst Graeme Bethune, of Energy Quest, noted last week that for two quarters last year Australia was in net energy deficit; that is, our revenue from oil, gas and coal exports was less than the cost of importing crude oil and refined petroleum products. But the bringing into production of the Woodside-operated Enfield development on the North West Shelf brought the equation back into surplus late in the year.

Addressing risks of alternatives: The Senate committee wants federal Treasury to identify options for "addressing the financial risks" facing investors in alternative fuel projects. “This … should determine how these risks might be best addressed in order to create a favourable investment climate for the timely development of alternative fuel industries, consistent with the principles of sustainability and security of supply."

Gas to liquids: This is a particularly prescient recommendation considering that the federal Government has been advised of Chevron’s renewed interest in gas-to-liquids, this time proposing an investment of up to $10 billion involving the development of the Wheatstone gas reservoir off Western Australia.

Gas for road transport: The scope of this development could be anywhere from 30,000 b/d of clean diesel to 200,000 b/d. Using Australia’s vast offshore natural gas reserve to fuel road transport is already a commercial proposition, with Wesfarmers investing up to $138 million in the construction of a 175 tonnes a day LNG plant at Kwinana, south of Perth, plus some associated infrastructure and two remote area power stations.

Wesfarmers’ plant: Work on the project began in November and commissioning is scheduled for the first quarter of calendar 2008. Wesfarmers, a large supplier through its Kleen-heat division, says LNG is an alternative to diesel and its plant will significantly expand LNG availability in Western Australia.

Trucks on LNG: Wesfarmers has been working on this concept for several years, supplying LNG from a pilot plant at Kwinana and from a depot at Dandenong in Victoria. Up to 70 trucks are now running on LNG. Industry analysts say both LNG and GTL, have far more long-term potential to alleviate Australia’s looming liquid fuel shortage than converting cars to run on LPG.

Peak arguments: The Senate committee recommended also that Geoscience Australia and ABARE reassess both the estimates of future oil supply and the "early peak" arguments and report on the probabilities and risks involved.

Mr Howard smells a rat: you say, Obama; I say, Osama

admin /13 February, 2007

February 13, 2007

The Prime Minister should be more circumspect in commenting on the political candidates in other countries.

PRIME Minister John Howard has made no secret of his close relationship with United States President George Bush. Indeed he makes much of the closeness he enjoys with the President. Mr Bush has reciprocated by, as one example, hosting a state dinner for Mr Howard in Washington. But in bilateral relationships between countries there is a line over which it must be regarded as bad form to cross. Mr Howard has crossed that line.

On Sunday, Mr Howard was asked to comment on a pledge by US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama that if elected president, he would withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008. Mr Howard said: "If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but for the Democrats."

The Prime Minister’s comments were based on his argument that a withdrawal would plunge Iraq into "total civil chaos". It would be a victory for the terrorists. "You either go or you stay, you either rat on the ally or stay with the ally," he said. This is only one of several times Mr Howard has used the rodent terminology in recent weeks. At the National Press Club last month, Mr Howard told an audience that included the US ambassador Robert McCallum: "You either rat on the ally or you don’t … I think this would be a very bad time, difficult though it is, a very bad time to be seen to be letting the Americans down."

The problem, Prime Minister, is that your attack on Senator Obama looks to be a defence of your friend Mr Bush. With that is the perception of meddling in the political process of another country. And not just innocent meddling but, in attacking Senator Obama, drawing a line from a terrorist organisation to a candidate for the US presidency.

What Mr Howard hoped to gain politically from making his statements is a riddle. Mr Howard has the right to speak his mind. But in holding high political office he also has a responsibility not to sully the integrity of another country’s political process.

It is undeniable that Mr Howard and Mr Bush have a close relationship. (Mr Howard was in Washington when the September 11 al-Qaeda attacks occurred and immediately gave the President Australia’s complete support in combating terror.) During the past 60 years, the Australia-US alliance has grown stronger while that with Britain has faded. In the ’60s, Harold Holt extolled: "All the way with LBJ," and 40 years later Mr Bush labelled Mr Howard a "man of steel" and a "sheriff".

Hunter Water study: small savings on rainwater tanks

admin /13 February, 2007

Over the last few years Hunter Water, in conjunction with Newcastle Council, Stormwater Trust and University of Newcastle, has conducted research on the impacts and benefits of installing residential rainwater tanks at existing houses.

Kotara data shows $40 saving: In the Hunter region a householder motivated to install and maintain a rainwater tank because of a strong commitment to conservation would – according to the Kotara research – save around $40 a year on an average installation cost of $5,000 (without considering maintenance or replacement costs). Data collected from Kotara households for just over two years showed:
• Only 40 per cent of roof areas were available to capture rainfall due to the location of downpipes
• A 4,000 litre tank supplied an average 37,000 litres – or 21 per cent of household use – each year
• Cost of retro-fitting rainwater tanks ranged from $3,500 to $6,400, an average $5,000.

Tanks part of the picture: Rainwater tanks will continue to be part of water resource planning for capture and storage of water during regular rainfall events, but to sustain communities through extended periods of little or no rainfall – possibilities made even more uncertain because of the impacts of climate change – it is imperative that large storage buffers are available, as provided by dams and underground water aquifers.

Mass retro-fitting too costly: Using data from the Kotara research project, installing 4,000 litre tanks on the existing 170,000 homes in the Hunter – at a cost of $5,000 per property – would cost $850 million. If rainwater supplied each household an average 37,000 litres per year, this would provide around 6,300 million litres of additional storage for one year.

Mix of conservation steps needed: Over an extended drought sequence of four years, that represents an additional 25,200 million litres of storage (compared to current total storage of about 250,000 million litres). This would add about five months to our drought security capacity. However, as highlighted above the retro-fitting of all homes in the region with rain water tanks would be extremely expensive and is not cost effective. This highlights the need to have an appropriate mix of demand management measures in order to realise water savings.

Open Board, Hunter Water, Item 3, page 2-3, 1/2007

Peace convergence at Shoalwater

admin /13 February, 2007

Emissions taskforce calls for submissions

admin /13 February, 2007

The Emissions Trading Taskforce set up by the Prime Minister late last year will publish a nine-page issues paper outlining the questions that it wanted addressed in public submissions due in one month’s time. Neither John Howard nor new Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull were given advance notice of what was in the report, reported The Canberra Times (07/02/2007, p.6).

The Canberra Times stated it understood that it would call for comments on how widespread a global trading system would need to be to make it workable, whether Australia would adopt a domestic emissions trading scheme in the absence of a global scheme, and whether there was a case for Australia to contribute its expertise to an international svstem of monitoring and verifying emissions.

Australian diplomats deny drought due to climate change

admin /13 February, 2007

A meeting of the International Institute for Sustainable Development this week sought agreement from countries around the world on a document entitled "Direct Observations Of Changes In Current Climate." Australian diplomats successfully argued that the wording "increased temperatures due to climate change" be changed to "increased temperatures linked with climate change".

Other countries called for more tools to make better observations and to change measures from meters per century to millimetres per year.  The US called for references to increased cyclone activity to be toned down, citing a paper that claimed trends are difficult to identify.