Author: simondiv

Cheap, clean, reliable and continuous electrons are not as elusive as we might think.

A new large scale solar electricity plant for Arizona, USA, shows the way forward. It will generate electricity by turning sunshine into heat and storing power overnight as molten salt.

It’s also competitive and big. Using South Australia as a comparison, the plant will generate about a fifth of Adelaide’s everyday basic electricity use. And the cost? In 6 years time, $115 per thousand units of electricity. That compares favourably with electricity from gas and also $120 for Adelaide power.

$120 was in the first 3 months of 2008, before any further inflation. It is also before a price on carbon pollution is introduced in Australia.

Sales of solar electricity systems to Australian households are growing exponentially.

The graph, from Australian government figures, shows solar electricity installation per month.

This growth is occurring despite the Australian government imposing a means test on its rebates. The test currently limits rebate payments to households earning less than $100,000 a year. It was introduced in an effort to cool what Peter Garrett, Australia’s Environment Minister, referred to as an overheated market.

In the middle of 2008, when the solar rebate means test is introduced, there is a momentary pause in growth but sales quickly expand again.

The results support reports from many in the solar industry. The industry says people on lower incomes, particularly pensioners, are willing to invest in smart green power. People will pay capital now for future savings.

436 billion US dollars and counting. This dollar figure is the global stimulus funding, according to HSBC, which is helping to address climate change.

Globally, nearly sixteen percent of economic stimulus expenditure goes to such green initiatives.

In Australia this figure is just over nine percent, China it’s nearly thirty eight percent and in the USA it’s close to twelve percent.

The latest 43 billion dollar Australian announcement, for a broadband network, is a good example of economic growth that can build a more sustainable economy. Communications are inherently more climate friendly than many other businesses. In Australia, the CSIRO shows every dollar spent on communications produces a third of the greenhouse gas than an average dollar across the whole economy.

This is part of a clean future. It is much easier to supply clean power for economic activities that pollute less.

And there’s a big future in clean business. Currently, renewable technologies drive 170,000 jobs in the German economy. By 2020 clean tech, say analysts, may be an industry rivalling or exceeding the information technology sector.

This then is the next industrial revolution – growth in clean technology and, significantly more growth in new and emerging low carbon sectors of the economy.

It’s a curious state of affairs – we don’t want Growth Neutral businesses or Neutrally Beneficial social organisations so why Carbon Neutral? The very term implies that there is not a major opportunity to be found in addressing climate change.

Thomas Friedman highlights this and the coming revolution for business, societies, countries and organisations to seek a carbon advantage.

As we transform our economy and build renewable, smart, reliable, efficient power throughout all our activities, we create jobs, social outcomes and also new norms for business. Paul Gilding recently pointed this out arguing the global financial crisis will not sideline sustainability.

Yesterday, Nick Stern author of the UK’s 2006 economic climate change report spoke of this directly to the G20 countries. The opportunity is to invest heavily in energy efficiency and green technology using stimulus funding. It’s a call that some countries have already begun to act on.

Which leads back to the Carbon Advantage – companies and organisations acting now will not just help to answer society’s challenges. It also delivers real benefits for the businesses and organisations that do so.

The Obamas are about to plant a veggie patch at the Whitehouse. It’s not a new idea – Eleanor Roosevelt helped lead the way during the Second World War. But it is a great example of fast change – change that could create a more sustainable world.

Within a couple of years from the start of the war, by 1942 to 43, these home gardens were producing about thirty to forty percent of the US’s veggies – not bad for backyard patches…

Nicholas Stern, ex World Bank Chief Economist and author of the UK Government’s economic review of Climate Change, recently linked recovery from the Global Financial Crisis and responding to climate change.

He says the good news is that there are great returns to handling these two things together. While there are undoubted pitfalls to avoid, current circumstances are also a huge opportunity – climate change and the financial crisis are intrinsically linked. Stern says now is precisely the moment to change to a low carbon economy.

UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is about to address the USA Congress and a global New Deal plus financial stimulus is on the agenda. So will this be a financially and environmentally sustainable new deal? There are some signs.

A snapshot – we have far more funding for energy programs in the US than any bill in history. The UK aims to access a £1 billion economic boost from energy. 3.9 of the 42 billion Australian financial stimulus goes to home insulation and solar hot water.

It is not just government. Recently investors, with US$ 3 trillion in assets, highlighted that climate actions can create $144 billion in savings. McKinsey, in its revised global Pathway to a Low Carbon Economy, finds the global investment required to address climate change is reasonable and “many of the opportunities would see future energy savings largely compensate for upfront investments.”

In 1998 fast sustainable change was occurring in Delhi. People may think Delhi was unlikely to prioritise environmental and social change. But, within 4 years, the city converted its private rickshaws and bus fleet from diesel and smoky two stroke to compressed natural gas. 

Then Delhi built an underground system – on budget and three years ahead of schedule.

Now India’s solar powered car is hitting the mainstream, having completed a tour. One of these solar cars travels 90kms on a charge – more than most Australian’s daily commute. The tour, highlighted in the New York Times, traveled 2,100kms showcasing entrepreneurs and sustainable solutions across the country.

When Scotland, where I was brought up, announces it’s national icon – whiskey – is going green you know substantial change must be underway. Using co-generation Speyside will convert waste left over from the whiskey process into heat and power.

Using the heat, as well as generating electricity, means that far less energy is wasted. Localised schemes like this also save a substantial amount of power by avoiding transmission line losses.

Similar systems can be used for residential homes as well. There’s a small demonstration in Sydney and Alan Jones has led the way for UK’s Borough of Woking, near London.