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Australia joins US in $83m solar research plan

Posted 4 hours 13 minutes ago

Photo: Solar energy has an $83m boost. (File photo)

Map: Australia
The Federal Government has announced an $83 million solar research program in partnership with the United States.

The eight-year project will bring together six Australian universities, the CSIRO and the US department of energy.

Its aim is to create new technology that will reduce the cost of solar power.

Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says it is the biggest solar energy research investment in Australia’s history.

“The funding will see the establishment of two strategic research initiatives, the $33m US-Australia Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics and the $35m Australian Thermal Research Initiative,” Mr Ferguson said.

“These initiatives will accelerate solar technology development faster than either country could do working alone.”

US-Australian Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics director Martin Green told Radio National this morning that Australia was leading the world in development of cheaper, better photovoltaics, the technology used in most solar panels.

“Australia is essentially providing the technology that has driven down the price of solar dramatically in the past four years,” he said.

“We will be looking at ways at taking (photovoltaic) efficiency well beyond 25 per cent, perhaps to something like 40 per cent.”

The project will also research solar-thermal power, which involves using mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays to boil water for turbines.

CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre manager Wes Stein says Australian research is creating better storage for solar-thermal power and smaller-scale technologies, which are driving down the cost.

“I would see solar-thermal being one of the lowest-cost forms of clean energy in the world in about 10 years’ time,” he said.

However, Beyond Zero Emissions executive director Matthew Wright says the project needs to look at real-world applications to compete with other clean energy leaders, including China.

“While we are busy with a bunch of nerds in the lab, (China) has got their nerds in the lab complemented by real commercial deployment, and that’s how you advance an industry and create a renewable sector,” he said.

US ambassador Jeffrey Bleich welcomed the partnership.

“We see the world the same way, we see the challenges in this region the same way,” Mr Bleich said.

Topics:science-and-technology, research, research-organisations, university-and-further-education, solar-energy, environment, federal-government, climate-change, australia

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Strange weather caused by combination of factors

ABCUpdated December 13, 2012, 3:08 pm

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The Weather Bureau says this week’s unseasonal downpours in Perth and the South West are being caused by a combination of factors, including near record sea surface temperatures.

In October, the ocean off the WA coast recorded the second warmest temperature since records began in 1900.

However, forecaster Neil Bennett says while the warm ocean is contributing to the high rainfall, it is not a significant factor.

“The temperatures over the ocean will help with the amount of moisture that they can release but the actual mechanism to make it rain is that weather pattern, the deep surface trough, the low pressure system at the surface and this mid level system moving in from the West,” he said.

Mr Bennett says the bureau’s predicting more storms today before the weather starts slowly clearing.
“There’s going to be more shower and thunderstorm activity through the South West of the State, so still some showers and thunderstorms for the metro area and even some morning showers still around on Friday, before we finally start to see things returning to what I suppose you could call normal weather conditions for this time of the year.”

In a wide ranging interview with Michael Auslin, director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, today  Eleanor Hall missed the obvious conclusion that Japan prefers economic stability to growth.

To be fair, this notion was just as unthinkable to Auslin  as it apparently is to Hall, even though it has been widely reported. See the NYT version of Eamonn Fingleton’s widely published writing on this topic.

Part of the reason is that growth underpins financial lending and so the financial institutions have a vested interest in slapping down any debate that leads to the obvious conclusion and part of the reason is that we have so much of our cultural identity invested in the notion of constant improvement.

(more…)

Methane perhaps?or proximity to drilling operations.
Neville

Rural fire teams baffled by rare burning lake

The World Today

By Brendan Trembath and staff

Updated 10 hours 20 minutes ago

Map: Wilcannia 2836

Firefighters in far western New South Wales are frustrated by a bizarre blaze that has been burning on and off for weeks under a dry lake.

About two months ago crews were called out to Lake Woytchugga, about five to 10 kilometres west of Wilcannia.
Chris Favelle, who manages the Rural Fire Service’s far west team, said the sight that greeted them was certainly curious.
“We just got a call to the lake and sent our brigade as we normally do,” he said.
“I think they were fairly perturbed to find that it appeared that the lake edge was on fire.”
Since then, firefighters have tried digging up the hot ground and flooding it, but the smoke keeps coming back.
They suspect it could be being fuelled by ancient organic matter that just keeps smouldering.

Audio: Listen to the story.(The World Today)

“It’s a lake bed that’s only got water in it after floods and those sorts of things,” Mr Favelle said.
“So we’ve tried everything from flooding the area with water, taking water tankers in and just flooding it, through to trying to dig a breaker around the area and contain the fire within a set location.
“Lately we’ve tried actually digging up the hot ground and trying to extinguish it that way but it just seems to keep going on us at this point in time.”
It is proving to be one of the most frustrating fires they have had to fight.
“It’s very uncommon. I’ve worked for the Rural Fire Service now for probably 15 years or so and never seen anything like this,” Mr Favelle said.
“Of course it’s very difficult to deal with at the moment, that’s for sure.
“If you would imagine that there is an organic matter under the surface and it’s mixed in with sand and other sorts of things on the edge of the lake, and as it heats up through the day it just, smoke just emanates from the ground, basically.
“What we’re concerned about is that it doesn’t get into grass and other things that are on the edge and get away from where it is really confined to at the moment.”
The Rural Fire Service does not know for sure how the blaze started, but Mr Favelle suggested it could have been sparked by someone’s campfire on the edge of the lake bed.
“[There is] probably nothing untoward about it at all. It’s just got into this material and once it’s got going, yeah, very difficult to deal with,” he said.
“On a cool day and with no wind around you don’t really see it.
“It’s below the surface of the lake edge I guess. It’s only when the wind comes up and there’s a bit of heat though the day that… [a] little bit of smoke emanates from the ground.”

Topics:fires, offbeat, human-interest, wilcannia-2836, nsw

First posted Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:04pm AEDT

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Revealed: Sydney trams make a comeback

Date December 13, 2012 101 reading now
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Jacob Saulwick

Transport Reporter

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Sydney’s trams

Trams in the Sydney CBD.

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TRAMS will become a major part of Sydney’s commute again, the O’Farrell government will announce in its long-awaited final transport plan for the state.

The plan will commit the government to starting construction on a light rail line from Central to Randwick before the next election, with an extension through George Street and the city centre to Circular Quay after that.

The line will run along Anzac Parade, adjacent to the University of NSW, Randwick Racecourse and the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Dusted off … light rail solution.

It will pass through Surry Hills either in a tunnel or snaking through the streets. Sources said the government was leaning to running trams on the surface to reduce costs.

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The final transport plan will also affirm another rail crossing of Sydney Harbour, to be built after the north west rail link is finished at the end of the decade.

And it will endorse the 33-kilometre WestConnex motorway to run between the M4 and Parramatta Road, and then under the inner west to the airport and the south-west M5 Motorway.

When he releases the plan, the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, will be in the curious position of responding to two major documents prepared by his own government.

One was developed by the transport department, Transport for NSW, which released its draft plan in September.

The other is the State Infrastructure Strategy, drawn up by former premier Nick Greiner’s Infrastructure NSW, which was released in November.

Both documents endorsed more motorways.

But Mr Greiner’s strategy argued there was no need for another heavy rail harbour crossing and that a tram line through the city would only cause disruption and would not be a viable means of mass transportation.

Mr O’Farrell is set to reject this advice, having already indicated trams would need to play a big role in getting people to and from work.

In an interview with Fairfax Media in January, the Premier said construction of more light rail lines would start before the 2015 election and that he supported the idea of running trams in the middle of the city.

”We understand there’s … no point in having light rail to Sydney University or to UNSW unless it connects to something. And getting light rail into the CBD I think is important – and if it wasn’t important before, it is certainly important I think in the context of Barangaroo,” he said.

A decision is also due before the end of the year on a link road between the F3 and M2 motorway in northern Sydney.

The toll-road company Transurban has proposed a method of building the road, which the government has to respond to.

Before the Cahill government started ripping up tram lines in the 1950s for buses, Sydney had the most extensive tram network in the southern hemisphere.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/revealed-sydney-trams-make-a-comeback-20121212-2ba2f.html#ixzz2EssMRIzE

Houses flooded as storm lashes Collie

By Lucy Martin and Roxanne Taylor, ABCUpdated December 12, 2012, 8:28 pm

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Residents in Perth and the South West are being warned to prepare for further severe weather as a second storm front in less than 24 hours lashes the WA region.

A number of homes in Collie, 200 kilometres south-east of Perth, are being evacuated as heavy rain causes flash flooding in the town.

Water is flowing down its streets and so far several houses have been inundated.

Shire chief executive Jason Whiteaker says the rain is not easing.

“We’re expecting that this level of rain that we’re getting now could continue for up to 12 hours,” he said.

“So we’ve got a long night in front of us, I think.”

The shire says the community is working together to sandbag homes as the Collie River continues to rise.

Parents were told to collect children early from two schools which were forced to close.

The weather bureau has recorded 110 millimetres of rain in Collie East since 9:00am (local time) and 170 millimetres at Yourdamung Lake.

The bureau has issued a severe thunderstorm warning that damaging winds and heavy rain are on the way for Perth, Mandurah, Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River and Bridgetown.

Flood warnings have been issued for the Harvey and Murray river catchment areas, with more downpours predicted later this evening.

Overnight, Mandurah and Rockingham recorded more than 70 millimetres with flash flooding in some areas.

There are still more than 8,000 homes without power.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain fell on Harvey in what the weather bureau has described as a once-in-a-century event.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Neil Bennett says more thunderstorms are expected as a deep surface trough continues sit over the region.

“It’s a continuation of shower and thunderstorm activity, certainly continuing for the rest of the day, we’re also looking at that for tomorrow as well,” he said.

“In the metro area, a band of showers moving through, some thunderstorms mixed in amongst that, so we’re likely to see that as a continuation through the rest of today as well.”

Taken by surprise

The storms led to flooding across some parts of Perth, Mandurah and the South West.

The SES responded to more than 100 calls for help.

Cooloongup resident Roy was watching television when the storm broke and flooded part of his house.

“She just crackled wildly, humungous, and the whole power just went off and then about a couple of minutes later she started coming back slowly,” he said.

“[There was] water coming down everywhere, right around the edge of the house and all of my electricals, freezers, fridges and televisions.”

SES district manager Steve Summerton says Roy’s experience is not unusual, with the majority of calls for assistance during the storm relating to flash flooding.

“Unfortunately the water comes down fairly fast, it rises and goes through doorways into households and disappears just as quick,” he said.

“We’ve also had reports of some roof damage with water leaking in through blocked gutters.”

Mr Summerton says if there is one message the community needs to heed this summer, it is to prepare for storms.

“Please get up when its safe to do so, inspect your roofs and make sure you’re down pipes and gutters are clear,” he said.

“That will stop a lot of the problems occurring with water coming into your house.”

Future forecast

The bureau says coastal residents south of Geraldton can expect more of the same in the short-term.

“Certainly for parts of the West Coast there’s a risk of further storm activity this week,” Mr Bennett said.

“But then it looks like more normal summer conditions for Perth moving into the weekend.”

Longer term, he says it is slightly tougher to call.

“It’s difficult to say exactly how things are going to pan out for the next few months, but through December already we’re looking right on the money,” he said.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Wetter and hotter

The bureau says the deluge and recent muggy conditions are fulfilling its predictions for the summer season.

Last month, the bureau released its seasonal weather forecast for the months of December to January.

It predicted a hotter and wetter summer than usual for Perth, with above average rainfall and higher minimum temperatures.

It also gave regional WA a higher-than-normal chance of above-average rainfall.

Mr Bennett says so far, the forecast is mostly on the money.

“Certainly with rainfall, we’re looking at areas that have already reached above average falls for summer and yet we’re only in December,” he said.

He says the weather system that created such conditions is not unusual for Perth, nor is the timing.

“We’ve been saying for the last couple of months that we were expecting above average rainfall,” he said.

“But I don’t think anybody would have anticipated the amount of rainfall that we saw last night.

“The trough development down the west coast is pretty common, it happens a lot – the unusual aspect of this is actually the length of time we’ve had it for.

“The system doesn’t normally sit around for the amount of time it has, it’s usually moving through after one or two days, not three or four.”

There has also been high humidity.

Perth is known for its hot and dry summer conditions but this week it has been more like the tropics.

“We will always get days when the north-westerly winds come in and produce hot humid conditions for a day or so,” Mr Bennett said.

“But what we’ve had this year is a system that hasn’t moved far, so it has kept moist north westerly over the region for longer than normal.”

Mr Bennett says the rainfall and humidity can be credited to warmer than average Indian Ocean temperatures.

“We’re not looking at El Nino or La Nina conditions here,” he said.
“But the Indian Ocean temperatures are a little bit above average and historically that leads to above average rainfall.”

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