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  • Wave power generation takes off in UK

    Three wave-energy companies are already working with the RDA to use Wave Hub, and a fourth will soon be selected. The companies involved include, Ocean Power Technologies Limited, Fred Olsen Limited and WestWave, a consortium of E.On and Ocean Prospect Limited, using the Pelamis technology of Ocean Power Delivery Ltd.

    "This pioneering project is crucial for the success of wave energy development, not just in the UK but around the world. These funds represent a strong signal of intent from the South West RDA to help Britain retain its lead in this rapidly emerging, and potentially huge, clean energy industry and we look forward to welcoming the necessary consent to build, so that momentum can be maintained for UK marine renewables," said Maria McCaffery, CEO of the British Wind Energy Association.

    The funding announcement coincided with the publication of an independent report into Wave Hub’s possible impact on surf conditions on parts of Cornwall’s coastline. Dr. Kerry Black, the New Zealand-based physical oceanographer, has concluded that the impact on wave height would be less than five percent — or less than five centimeters off a meter-high wave.

    This is in line with the RDA’s own findings and far less than the 11 percent feared previously by some surfers.

    "Wave Hub is a flagship project and this investment is very good news for South West England and particularly for Cornwall. Sustainable energy and carbon reduction will be the key to Cornwall’s 21st Century industrial revolution and the Wave Hub will become a major part of the county’s reinvention as a leader in innovation," said Tim German, director of the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership, which has been focusing on the benefits of the Wave Hub to Cornwall.

    The investment, which was agreed last week by the South West of England RDA, means Wave Hub has the necessary GBP 28 million [US$55.8 million] needed to build it. Approximately half the GBP 21.5 million [US$42.9 million] approved by the RDA is expected to come from the European Regional Development Fund through the Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

    "We are determined to see South West England leading the world in the development of wave energy technology and capturing the economic benefits that will flow from it. Wave Hub has the potential to make an enormous contribution to tackling climate change and we believe it could transform the wave technology industry," said Stephen Peacock, Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation at the South West RDA.

    The South West RDA has applied to the UK Government for planning permission to build Wave Hub with a final decision expected by June.

  • Climate talks bog down on economics

    The economic impacts of reducing greenhouse gases that cause global warming have proved to be the biggest sticking point, but other issues such as whether to ramp up use of nuclear power have also caused fierce debate, delegates said.

    "The costs are the big 100,000-pound gorilla in the room," said a source at the closed-door meeting on Thursday.

    Nevertheless, various delegates contacted by AFP said an agreement was still expected to be reached in the early hours Friday.

    The final report is likely to say that world leaders have little time to waste, but that the tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions already exist.

    A draft summary of the IPCC report seen by AFP calls for a greater use of renewable energies such as solar, wind, and hydro-power, as well as ways to use energy more efficiently.

    Storing carbon dioxide, the biggest greenhouse gas, underground is also under consideration, as are tariffs and other economic mechanisms to make using fossil fuels more expensive and renewable energies much cheaper.

    Various delegates contacted by AFP said China has been the leading voice in expressing concern about the costs of cutting greenhouse gases.

    It has sought more than 10 amendments to the draft report, saying it will cost more and be harder to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than detailed in the early draft, according to documents submitted to the IPCC and seen by AFP.

    "They want the evidence to appear as weak as possible on what we know about cost," one delegate from a European nation said.

    One top priority is how to cut the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which are measured in parts per million (ppm). Today’s levels are close to 400 ppm.

    An early draft of the report seen by AFP says that if the world wants to stabilise carbon dioxide levels at 640 ppm by 2030, it would cost 0.2 percent of average global gross domestic product (GDP) in that year.

    A more ambitious target of 550 ppm, the draft says, would cost 0.6 percent of GDP, and stabilising CO2 in the atmosphere at 445 to 535 ppm by 2030 — an unlikely scenario — would be about three percent of GDP.

    China, which relies heavily on cheap coal to fuel its booming economy, has said in documents submitted to the IPCC that it does not agree with the economic cost estimates.

    Environmental groups warn that even at 535 ppm, the world will warm to an extremely dangerous level, causing droughts, floods and other disasters, while at 640 ppm the impacts could be catastrophic.

    While countries battle it out over the economic costs, green groups have stressed that the looming environmental devastation should be the top priority.

    "The costs for ambitious emissions reduction are very low compared to the dangers caused by climate change if they take no action," said Stephan Singer, European head of climate and energy policy at environmental group WWF.

    And although the United States has maintained a relatively low profile at this week’s talks while China has come under the spotlight, WWF said the world’s superpower was most to blame for global warming.

    "They are the biggest culprit and they are the biggest offender of climate," said Singer.

  • US military plans energy reductions

    A study ordered by the Pentagon warns that the rising cost and dwindling supply of oil – the lifeblood of fighter jets, warships, and tanks – will make the US military’s ability to respond to crises around the world "unsustainable in the long term”. The report says the military is using 16 times more fuel per soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan than in World War II. The Pentagon commissioned LMI, a government-consulting firm, to produce the report.

    New military energy strategy: Transforming the Way DoD Looks at Energy is intended as a potential blueprint for a new military energy strategy and includes a detailed survey of potential alternatives to oil – including synthetic fuels, renewable biofuels, ethanol and biodiesel fuel as well as solar and wind power, among many others.

    The study produced by a consulting firm, concluded;

    • that all four branches of the military must "fundamentally transform” their assumptions about energy including taking immediate steps towards fielding weapons systems and aircraft that run on alternative and renewable fuels.

    • the Pentagon must "apply new energy technologies that address alternative supply sources and efficient consumption across all aspects of military operations”, the report says.

    The Sydney Morning Herald, 2/5/2007, p.8

  • Turnbull claims Climate settings correct

    "The report says what the Prime Minister hasn’t said," he said.

    "It says that there’s substantial economic potential for the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades.

    "That’s what the Labor has been saying. That’s not what the Prime Minister has been saying."

    Jobs

    Mr Turnbull says Labor’s plan to reduce Australia’s emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 will cost jobs and have little global impact.

    "If you put a heavy price on Australia’s energy intensive industries, those industries will move offshore and their emissions with them," he said.

    But Mr Garrett says Labor’s plan is a prudent one.

    "It says we need to set targets, we need to reduce emissions and we need to get on with it now," he said.

    "And we need to do it in a way that actually recognises that we need to build sustainable economic prosperity as we go."

  • Carbon peak set for 2015

    The report says the world then needs to at least halve annual emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050 to keep global warming in check.

    The panel agreed on measures to cut emissions, describing them as both achievable and affordable.

    "The assessment says that it will cost less than 3 per cent of the global GDP," said report co-author Dr Joshi Roy,.

    "So that’s really not very bad if you look into the kind of benefits that the world will be getting due to the lesser temperature. "

    The wording of the agreement includes an implicit warning that the planet will not cope if developing countries aspire to the consumer lifestyles of those in the West.

    Western nations are told to cut fossil fuel consumption and developing nations will have to find a cleaner path to prosperity.

    The final text will controversially include a paragraph saying nuclear power could be part of the solution.

    Germany tried to block this, but delegates said it was up to individual countries to decide.

    – AFP/BBC

  • Peter Garrett’s short memory – podcast

    Garrett faces the media