Solar thermal first as Spanish solar plant provides 24hrs of uninterrupted electricity

The newly completed 19.9MW Gemasolar concentrated solar thermal (CSP) plant has become the first to provide 24hrs of uninterrupted electricity into the grid. Utilising the "power tower" design where a field of mirrors focuses the sun onto a central tower, Torreso's plant also contains tanks of molten salt which can be heated to ~500 dC and then used to produce electricity once the sun goes down.




The power tower with molten salt storage CSP is designed to provide power during the day while also storing excess energy as super hot molten salt to provide up to 15 hours of extra electricity. Torreso's Gemasolar plant, which only started operating at full capacity in late June is the first CSP power tower plant to incorporate salt storage, an addition that greatly increases its capacity factor (the percentage of time the plant is producing electricity).

Torresol believes that over time its new plant will produce electricity for the grid on average 20 hours a day, with 24hr production possible during the summer when sunlight is at a maximum.

This milestone is important as it expands the ability of renewable electricity technologies to provide baseload or near baseload electricity either separately or in conjunction. CSP with molten salt storage was also a key component of the Beyond Zero Emissions 100% renewable energy plan for Australia. Seeing the technology demonstrated successfully will help the case for building similar plants here in Australia.

Given Gemasolar is a first of a kind, the cost of building it was obviously more than for established renewable technologies such as wind. But you need the deployment of technologies to bring down costs through building up knowledge about how to construct, run and improve plants and to generate demand which fosters further innovations and generates economies of scale. Let's hope Gemasolar is the first of many.

Monthly meeting change: TTKD now meets on Thursdays

Starting with our July meeting, TTKD is changing it's meeting night to the 3rd Thursday of the Month.

So, only the night has changed, it is still the 3rd week of the month and we will still meet at the Kenmore library at 7.30pm. The advantage of meeting on Thursdays is that it is no longer after-hours so as long as you arrive before 8pm you can get in the building without someone giving you access.

We'll have more information about our next meeting on Thursday July 21st soon.

Tony Abbott, Carbon Pricing and Epistemic Closure

Another day, another group of experts report that if you are going to act on climate change then carbon pricing "is the most effective way of achieving least-cost abatement".

One might think that when practically all the experts in a particular field are confident that one course of action is the best one, you should at least give them the benefit of the doubt, be they doctors recommending treatment, climate scientists saying we're warming the planet or economists saying a carbon price is cheaper and more effective than direct action.

But not Her Majesties leader of the opposition. Faced with this latest report Tony Abbott has responded by claiming that the experts are wrong and probably incompetent.

Last year there was a lot of talk in American conservative political circles about Epistemic Closure, which in this case was taken to mean close-mindedness and/or an ideological attraction to an idea despite the evidence.

Previously I had assumed that Abbott's opposition to any form of carbon pricing and favoring of "direct action" was a purely political position. Whatever Labour is for, he is against, a rather cynical position with no real interest in what policy might be best for the future of this nation. But comments like this make me wonder if actually he does believe he is correct, despite the fact all the experts tell him he is wrong. A diagnosed case of epistemic closure?

PS: Abbott's citing of Bjorn Lomborg in support of his position is hardly inspiring. Lomborg to put it simply, is not credible.

PPS: The opinions in this piece are solely my own.

Brissie's own TRANSITION PICNIC - Sat 9th July

Click image to expand

From noon, Saturday 9th July, at New Farm Park rotunda (or nearby). BYO picnic lunch. See flyer for more info.

It would be great to know who's coming, so please RSVP here.

One little detail - BCC charges for the hire of the Rotunda - so we haven't booked it! Instead we'll just turn up and try our luck; if the rotunda is in use we can shift to the alternative area nearby (marked below on the map).

Still open to offers of entertainment, and suggestions for promotion - please add comments here.
Come along, bring a friend, and spruik for 60 seconds on your particular project.

See you at the picnic!

Bellbowrie Flood Recovery Community Event this Saturday

The Bellbowrie Community Association are delighted to bring you the Lord Mayor’s Flood Recovery Community Event from 10am to 4pm on Saturday June 25th 2011 (this weekend) at Booker Park, Birkin Road, Bellbowrie.

Transition Town Kenmore District will have a stall in the Art and Environment Space. We will have some 'Backyard Farmers' produce and some homemade cleaning remedies on display as well. It would be lovely if you could come along and say hello!

More information is available here.

TTKD June Meeting - What’s happening at Sustainable Jamboree? + Permablitz update

Ngaire McGaw, convenor of Sustainable Jamboree will be speaking about what actions they have been taking and what successes they have had across the river in the Jamboree ward.

Sustainable Jamboree is a volunteer group which partners with ordinary people as well as experts to organise forums, films, programs, campaigns, and policy papers as outlined on their website. Sustainable Jamboree is once again a finalist for this year’s Premier’s ClimateSmart Sustainability Awards.
We will also continue planning our next permablitz.

When: Wednesday 15 June, 2011.
7.30pm
Where: Kenmore Library

Access via the after hours lift entrance on the ground floor. It’s under the library, right by the car park, behind the library’s main escalator entrance. Someone will let you in. If you arrive late and there is no one there please press the buzzer for meeting room 3 and someone will come down.

Garnaut releases final review - offers a prescription for a carbon price

Prof Ross Garnaut has just released his final 2011 review report, where he outlined the case for and the design of a price on carbon.

It's a hefty tome, but many of the basic details are the same as we reported on a few months ago.

1) Australia has an obligation to reduce its emissions along with other developed countries, with the proposed carbon price not committing us to more action that most other countries are taking.

2) A price on carbon is the cheapest most effective way to reduce emissions.

3) Garnaut recommends starting with a fixed price (the carbon tax) of between $20-30 a tonne before moving to a floating price (an emission trading scheme) several years later.

4) Lower and middle income earners should be compensated primarily through tax cuts by raising the tax free threshold. Other money raised by the tax will go to trade exposed industry, carbon farming and innovation.

For some expert analysis, Prof John Quiggin is blogging the chapters as he reads them and providing some commentary too. Recommended if you want more information but don't want to read the whole report or summary report.