Jun 2007 - Australian Institute of Energy

M2M provides a useful opportunity to learn about leading
developments in this new field. As part of its involvement in
the partnership, the Australian Government is working with
the intensive livestock industries and the Rural Industries
Research and Development Corporation, to develop and
adapt technologies that capture and use methane. The
expo’s agriculture program will focus on the global status of
anaerobic digestion of livestock waste. Topics may include
the economics of anaerobic digestion as a pollution control
alternative, profiles of existing projects, examples of national
programs that develop sustainable markets and mechanisms
for deploying anaerobic digestion technologies, examples of
emerging waste management and pollution control programs,
rural household/small-scale digesters and gas uses, unheated
covered lagoons for milder climates, and digesters using
co-mingled waste and centralized operation.
OIL AND GAS SYSTEMS
The expo will cover all aspects of worldwide reductions
in methane emissions from oil and gas systems, especially
those located in China. There will also be a technical program
focused on policy and regulatory issues such as carbon
markets, and low methane emissions pipeline maintenance
and repair technologies.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information about the Methane to Markets
Partnership and the Beijing Expo, please visit http://www.
methanetomarkets.org/
You can join the partnership’s voluntary and free project
network online at http://www.methanetomarkets.org/
partners/network/index.htm
The Australian Government is coordinating Australian
involvement in the expo and providing information and
advice to Australian companies and researchers who are
attending. For more information about the Australian
Government’s involvement, please contact Saravan Peacock
at saravan.peacock@environment.gov.au/
Science writers focus on energy
By Joy Claridge, Editor, AIE
Energy was a key topic at the 5th World Conference of Science
Journalists held in Melbourne on 16–20 April 2007. The
plenary on the third day – Reporting Climate Change – featured
Kevin Hennessy (CSIRO Climate Impacts and Risk Group),
Geoff Love (Bureau of Meteorology) and Ian Lowe (Australian
Conservation Foundation). Their ‘consensus’ message was that
there is a scientific consensus about climate change and this
is reflected in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) technical report which was agreed to by 300
delegates from 200 countries. Although scepticism is how
science works, the panellists advised journalists to be critical
in their selection of alternate views on climate change. Science
sources should be reputable and expert, and that means peerreviewed
in prestigious journals.
Although there was little room for sceptics at the plenary
session, debate was lively later that day in the parallel
session – Coal: fuel of the future? Chaired by ABC Science’s
Bernie Hobbs, this session featured Peter Cook (CRC for
Greenhouse Gas Technologies), Doug Holden (Australian
Coal Association), Ian Lowe (Australian Conservation
Foundation) and Wang Yu (China Daily). For those
familiar with the debate, there were no real surprises in the
presentations, however it was interesting to hear the debate
in a forum for journalists.
Bernie Hobbs opened the session with the question, “Is coal
on the way out?”
“If you look at the recent efforts by UK and EU governments
you might think so,” said Ms Hobbs.
“Yet coal sustains many economies including that of Australia
– the world’s biggest coal exporter with 30% of the traded
coal market. Australia’s coal mines employ about 30,000
people and, in 2005–06, Australia earned $25 billion from
coal exports making it the single biggest commodity export
by value. Our industries enjoy the competitive advantage of
cheap energy, but, one-third of all emissions of CO2 from
human activity come from burning fossil fuels to generate
electricity. So, is there a future for coal?”
Doug Holden opened the presentations, noting that
1.5 million people do not yet have access to electricity.
The world is consuming 6 billion tonnes of coal this year,
and will consume 10.5 billion tonnes by 2030. Australia
is responsible for only 6% of production and 2% of
consumption. Coal has a future, but it will have to be used
more efficiently and produce fewer emissions through new
clean coal technologies.
Peter Cook added that there needs to be a portfolio of
responses to climate change, including carbon capture and
storage (CCS) as long as we use fossil fuels.
“We have enough CO 2 storage space but it is not always
where we would like it,” he said.
“Australia is well-positioned to implement CCS in terms of
expertise and storage opportunities. Our first CCS project is
underway in Victoria and will start injecting CO 2 to a depth
of two kilometres in September this year.”
Although Australia is a major exporter of coal, the vast
majority of coal is produced and consumed in other countries.
For example, China produces and consumes about one-third
of the world’s coal and, in 2006, China started to import coal
for the first time in 10,000 years.
41 EnErgy nEws Vol 25 no. 2, June 2007