Category: Energy Matters

 

National Electrical Contractors Association CEO James Tinslay says tight restrictions are now in place to make sure there is not a repeat of the workplace deaths that happened under the original free program.

“NECA has been working closely with the department to develop safe work procedures to ensure the safety of both workers and the householders,” he said.

“It could be that there might be a couple of months added to that. NECA wouldn’t see that as a major issue because we know the program will be carried out correctly and we’re very happy with the procedures that have been put in place.”

But he is not quite as confident about the inspections for bulk insulation. Mr Tinslay says his organisation has reported a number of inspectors for what appeared to be sloppy work.

“I have heard of a couple of instances where the people who were inspecting the bulk insulation didn’t meet the expectations that we would have of somebody competent to undertake the inspection,” he said.

“That is a worry; it was a few months ago and these have been passed on to the department.”

Cellulose insulation businesses in particular have concerns about the quality of the inspections.

The Australian Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association says many inspectors have little experience with their product and often report problems when there are none.

Queensland installer Geoff Hourigan says he is concerned that there is a conflict of interest because the Government has appointed CSR-Bradford for a large part of the inspection program.

“The inspection work that we tried to get, now they’ve given it to CSR and UGL, who have no industry experience whatsoever in the cellulose industry to inspect our work,” he said.

“These people, CSR in particular are in direct competition with us for the last 15 years and these guys are going to inspect our jobs?”

 

Combet optimistic

 

The Assisting Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, says CSR is not the only company involved in the inspections.

“CSR Bradford is obviously a large player in the industry but we also have now entered into a heads of agreement with a company called United Group Services, which will have the responsibility of engaging small and medium-sized insulation firms in the inspection program as well,” he said.

And he says it will be difficult for anyone to rig an inspection, because inspectors are only be given an address and will not be told who installed the product.

Overall he is optimistic the inspections will but carried out professionally.

“We’ve done, to the best of our capacity, the work to consult with the industry using an expert advisory panel to devise the training program for inspectors to carry out the inspection work that’s been going on for some period of time now,” he said.

“I haven’t seen a shred of evidence to suggest that inappropriate results are being recorded.”

The Federal Opposition has concerns about the inspections because the Government is refusing to release the program’s results.

Environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the figures for defects and dangerous roofs have been withheld from the Australian public.

“That is rightly something to which they should have access,” he said.

“The program on its current rate would take seven years to inspect every home done in seven months under the home insulation program.”

That is 1.2 million roofs. At present, the Government has only committed to inspecting 50,000 homes with thermal insulation and 150,000 with foil insulation.

But Mr Combet expects that number to rise.

Tags: government-and-politics, federal-government, occupational-health-and-safety, australia

First posted 1 hour 31 minutes ago

 

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says president Barack Obama strongly believes that drilling at such depths does not make any sense and puts the safety of workers at risk.

The court order was a big victory for offshore energy producers including BP, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, whose operations have been hamstrung by the ban.

The companies have been considering relocating their giant drilling rigs to other basins, like Brazil.

The Obama administration says it will appeal against the judge’s decision, and offshore oil operators say they will wait until the outcome of that appeal before they restart drilling operations.

The April 20 explosion of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and has since caused the worst oil spill in US history.

The well is majority-owned by BP.

– ABC/AFP

Tags: business-economics-and-finance, industry, oil-and-gas, disasters-and-accidents, accidents, maritime-accidents, world-politics, united-states

 

Currently, wind and solar power provide less than 1 per cent of Australia’s total energy needs.

The most commonly cited obstacle to renewable energy is base load power – the need to provide electricity 24 hours a day, during the day and night when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing.

But the Beyond Zero Emissions report insists Australia could achieve the 100 per cent renewable energy goal.

Beyond Zero Emissions executive director Matthew Wright says the 10-year road map focuses on technologies that are already commercially available such as wind and large-scale solar thermal.

“The inherent design of a solar thermal plant is that it stores its heat away for night time,” he said.

“We’ve modelled that from our 12 solar regions across the country and our 23 wind sites that we get 100 per cent of our power needs, 365 days a year, 24-7.”

The report says the goal would also depend on a $92 billion upgrade to create one national electricity grid that would link the renewable projects to the city and urban areas.

University of Melbourne Energy Institute professor Mike Sandiford says cost should not impede the switch to renewable energy.

“To do it in 10 years is in many ways akin to a infrastructure roll out of a wartime-like operation in many senses,” he said.

“But the important point of the plan is that costs are not a real impediment. The total costs of our business as usual comes down to about a cup of coffee per person per day.”

But the modelling for the report assumes that by 2020 energy use will drop by half through energy efficiency savings.

Professor Sandiford says the plan is also based on a shift towards public transport and electric cars, which he says would offset any projected increases in electricity use.

“In many ways the plan is looking across the total energy domain,” he said.

Senator Troeth says it is a worthy goal to aim for 100 per cent renewable energy but remains to be convinced about the path to get there.

“The ambitions of this report are commendable … [but] I may not agree with all of the recommendations put forward in this report,” she said.

“It’s important that we continue to have a robust debate on the most effective and efficient ways to reduce carbon emissions.”

Tags: environment, alternative-energy, science-and-technology, energy, solar-energy, wind-energy, geothermal-energy, australia

First posted 1 hour 37 minutes ago

 

“Demand for wind is simply not at the level where a lot of these companies that are making these investments woud like it to be,” says Matt Kaplan, a senior analyst with IHS Emerging Energy Research.

The first major factor in the slowdown is the drop in electricity consumption. With lower demand for electricity, utilities don’t have to procure as much renewable electricity under their state targets. This has impacted a number of project owners who sell power on the competitive wholesale market.

Secondly, natural gas prices have fallen about 65% since 2008, from $11 per MMBtu to around $4 per MMBtu. Given that wind competes directly with natural gas, this makes the resource much less competitive. And with more shale gas reserves being tapped in the U.S., prices will stay low in the coming years.

Finally, the lack of a long-term national target for renewables in the U.S. is causing major component and turbine manufacturers to reconsider investments in the country. As a result, job growth in manufacturing will likely fall flat again this year.

The reduction in demand for wind means that prices for turbines are coming down. Utilities are watching the equipment prices and waiting to sign power purchase agreements, wondering if prices will continue to fall. Meanwhile, more competition in manufacturing – particularly from asian players – is forcing turbine suppliers to focus heavily on differentiating their products in an increasingly crowded field.

“It’s a tough market out there…[but] we keep focusing on technological innovation,” says Mike Revak, director of Siemens’ American wind division. “Clearly we don’t sit idly by…staying on the cutting edge of technology gives us a competitive position.”

Revak says that Siemens won’t see installations of its turbines drop much in the U.S. this year. But if the demand picture stays they way it is today, sales will certainly be impacted into 2011. Revak believes that a federal renewable energy target could not only increase demand for wind, it could also help make the industry more competitive during challenging times like today.

“Without that that long term policy, you can’t drive down the cost of wind. You can’t have the innovation along the supply chain,” says Revak. “With that support we can make the investments and improvements to make wind more competitive with all energy.”

So what does all this mean for the wind industry this year? Matt Kaplan of IHS Emerging Energy Research predicts a 40% to 60% drop in installations.

Things could potentially turn around over the next 12-18 months. With a long-term national target in place and an increase in demand for electricity, wind might be able to make a good comeback. Clearly, despite the short-term retraction, many of the largest companies in the world are still very bullish on wind. And some executives, like Sonia Bonfiglioli, CEO of the leading components manufacturer Bonfiglioli, believe that the downturn will eventually be a good thing for the industry.

“Renewables faced a lot of speculation…from this crisis the real businesses will survive. I’m convinced that this will move toward a real industry with competent businesses and people, and no doubt it will grow,” says Bonfigioli.

The big unknown is exactly when the growth will pick back up. It’s still uncertain how quickly the industry can rebound, given all the factors working against it.

To hear more analysis on this issue, listen to this week’s podcast linked above.