Energy Efficiency

For the last 15+ years I have actively promoted energy efficiency to all and sundry; I have letters from various local government bodies either write condescending letters or supportive ones, but still inaction has been the order of the day.

Currently I am proceeding towards an Assessors certification under the federal government’s ‘greenloan’ scheme and recently I spoke with the assistant director of TAFE Skills with the view of teaching energy eficient house design.

Now I’m going to write a seperate story on how I am working towards having a house I have designed to be at the forefront of energy efficient house design and construction for the next ‘sustainable open house in Augast 2010; however, I am finding out some really disturbing stuff like a) although the Building Code of Australia sets a minimum 5 Star ‘energy rating’, nowhere is it taught how to achive this and b) if I do design and build and energy efficient house in Queensland, I can ‘earn 10 Stars’, but you guessed it, no real tips, just generalities like (would you believe) a covered and insulated roof outside the home with a ceiling fan will earn you half a star … incredible.

There is nothing in the QBSA – this is the body responsible for all residential construction in the State – about energy efficient house design and Certifiers – whose job it is to assess the houses complying – are not trained. But I’m getting ahead of myself; this is but another example of how Labor Government (led by Auctioneering Anna – sell the State off – Bligh) is trying to decieve the public.  The first is the press release by Stephen Robertson (previously the Dr Death of Qld Health and now trying his hand at pushing the spin pill of environment down our throats) …

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Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Minister for Trade – The Honourable Stephen Robertson

16/10/2009

Australia’s newest solar power farm makes Windorah clean and green Australia’s newest solar farm, which is making the outback Queensland town of Windorah one of the state’s cleanest and greenest, has been officially opened. Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Stephen Robertson said the Bligh Government project has saved more than 100 tonnes of carbon being pumped into the atmosphere. “The Windorah Solar Farm is the first of its kind in Queensland, it is generating power that would otherwise have come from a diesel-powered generator,” he said.

“The Bligh Government is developing a clean energy future for Queensland and projects such as Windorah demonstrate we are delivering on this goal.  “The project is a trial of Australian-developed technology and the Windorah site is the first time it has been integrated with a diesel power station in this way. “The Bligh Government, through Ergon Energy, has invested more than $3.5 million to build the solar farm at Windorah, supported by a $1 million investment from the Commonwealth.

“Solar energy could revolutionise the way power is produced for remote communities that are not on the national electricity grid and rely on diesel power stations feeding into small local grids. “the Windorah Solar Farm will produce around 300,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and reduce diesel consumption in the town by more than 100,000 litres a year.

“Significantly, this will reduce the town’s carbon footprint by an estimated 300 tonnes of greenhouse gas per year.”

Mr Robertson said the solar farm uses five 14-metre diameter mirrored dishes to capture sunlight.

“It has generated more than 100,000 kiloWatt hours of clean emissions-free energy to date to help power local homes and businesses,” he said. “The giant dishes follow the sun as it tracks across the sky from sunrise to sunset. “Different combinations of dishes are used at different times, with some being parked and not used while others are generating power, depending on the needs of the town.”

While the solar farm is producing power, the town’s diesel generators operate at reduced output. At night, or when there is too much cloud for the dishes to generate power, the generators are seamlessly brought back up to sufficient capacity to supply the town’s needs. The system also includes batteries to cope with brief cloud cover without having to increase the diesel generators’ output. Modern controls and communications equipment allow for remote monitoring and control of the entire facility.

Federal funding support for major projects under the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program totals more than $50 million and has stimulated a total investment of more than $107 million in renewable generation projects around Australia.

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The following is an exchange between Dave Kimble and Ergon and highlights the lack of comprehension of both the government and its subiduary Ergon on ‘payback’ and what something costs in embodied energy. On the Windorah Solar Farm, which was paid for by Queensland Government ($3.5 million) plus Federal governmetn($1 million), for a 14-metre diameter mirrored dishes and CPV cells.  The population in Windorah ? 80 people !

To: GABRIEL Bashir (FN)
Subject: Windorah Solar Farm

Do you have a life-cycle energy budget for the Windorah Solar Farm project ?
Even if it omitted figures for the solar cells it would be OK.

Dave Kimble
GABRIEL Bashir (FN) wrote:
HI Dave

Yes we have made a life-cycle analysis for the Windorah solar farm.
All information that is able to be shared is on the Ergon Energy’s website.  Please see link below.

Regards

Bashir Gabriel B.E.(Mech), M.Eng.Sc.(Research), MIEAust, CPEng, NPER, RPEQ
Generation Alternative Technology Engineer      Ergon Energy
To: GABRIEL Bashir (FN)
Subject: Re: Windorah Solar Farm

Bashir,
That is not a reasonable answer.
A life-cycle analysis of an energy generating system involves drawing up an energy budget for the project, including ALL the energy inputs to the project as well as all the energy outputs over the lifetime of the project.
The energy inputs would include all the embedded energy in the materials used, and all the labour and transport used in construction at all levels.
I attach a spreadsheet published by Sydney University’s ISA team comparing various fossil and renewable technologies.
You should be able to produce something similar for your technology. If you cannot provide data for the embedded energy in the PV cells, the supplier and their surface area would be sufficient. Without this information it is not possible to compare and contrast the different technologies, and without being able to do that, your technology will never be even looked at.
So, given that you are in charge of promoting the technology, you really need to be more forthcoming.
Dave Kimble
To: Dave.Kimble
Nov 4th
Subject: RE: Windorah Solar Farm
Dave

Thanks for sharing the spreadsheet with us.  Ergon Energy do similar life-cycle analysis though not identical.

As per our webpage Ergon Energy does not sell nor market this technology.  Ergon Energy purchased the dishes from the manufacturer and as such we are an end-user.

Regards,
Bashir
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And soon – if Anna Bligh gets her way – we will sell off State assets to build more infrastructure that does little more then put money in the pockets of the financial supporters of Labor, only to be sold off at some later date, like the Traverston Dam.