Endings...

I leave for home tomorrow afternoon. This has been an amazing experience and there is sadness that it is coming to an end. However, I miss my kids and I am very much going to enjoy sharing what I have learned with friends, family and colleagues. I hope to be able to not only implement change at home, but also to promote the Eisenhower experience. I committed to myself that I wasn't going to squander this opportunity. I feel like I have taken advantage of my time in Australia and I am going to take advantage of the opportunities back home. If you have read this blog with any interest, I thank you. I may continue to update the blog as I begin to work on my action items. So Australia, goodbye, so long, farewell.

Sydney

Although two meetings were scheduled today, one cancelled. I was not disappointed as it gave me more time for a great lunch. The lunch was hosted by Paul Espie, Managing Director of Pacific Capital Management Company, who has been a great friend to the Eisenhower Fellowships. Also in attendance from Pacific Capital were Peter Nolan and Michael Coffey. In addition, Mick McCormack from APA Group and Steve Bolton from Hastings Funds Management were also in attendance. The lunch was incredibly engaging. Most of the participants are financiers, with the exception of Mick who is head of the company that controls much of the gas pipelines in Australia. We spoke about climate change, the carbon pollution reduction scheme, Australian politics, the US regulatory scheme and US politics. Over all, a very engaging lunch. We had a true dialogue and it was a great to speak with highly informed highly accomplished people who have a slightly different take on climate change, both from one another and from the other people I have spoken through.
Tonight, we are headed to dinner with Catherine Livingstone, a former Eisenhower Fellow, along with Meredith Hellicar and her husband.

Sydney

Today was a free day. Amy and I took advantage of it by seeing the City. We started with a 10am Coffee cruise around Sydney Harbour. The Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world. The iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge dominate the view, but along the entire harbour there are spectacular houses, pristine beaches and amazing views. After the cruise, we took a tour of the Opera House. It really is an interesting structure. Built over 16 years with $102 million, the Opera House was originally only supposed to cost $7 million and take three years to build. The architect, from Copenhagen, left half way though construction after essentially being fired for delays and increased costs, never returned to see his finished product. He was re-engaged by the New South Wales government to help design some refurbishments in 1999, but passed away in 2008 without ever seeing the Opera House. The structure is actually 3 buildings, the large concert hall, the smaller Opera House and a smaller still restaurant. The enormous sail-like spires are only the exterior of the building. Inside the auditoriums have been designed independently of the exterior by Australian architects. While we sat in the concert hall, we heard a harpist rehearsing and the sound was beautiful. The acoustics obviously are perfect.
After the Opera House we spent some time exploring the rest of the City, including watching the end of "Question Time" in the NSW Parliament. Much livelier than some of the debates in the Missouri House, a little more rude, but very interesting to watch. I think question time would have some merit in the US. We walked around much of the rest of the day. Even cheating a bit and taking in a move (Star Trek...pretty darn good).
I restart meetings tomorrow and Friday.

Townsville/Magnetic Island

Amy and I met Ian at the Magnetic Island Ferry terminal. The crossing is just about 8k and takes only 20 or so minutes. It was much smoother than the ride out the Great Barrier Reef. The first stop was the Ergon Energy Solar Lifestyle Center. This is the headquarters for Ergon Energy’s Solar City. It is not only the office but also a Demonstration Center. The Center has three Solar Panel systems on the roof and it uses solar energy to run refrigerators, air conditioning and hot water heating. At its core, the Solar City project is not about Solar Energy. The Solar panels actually give very little benefit to the customers as the energy that is generated flows directly into the grid and the size of the systems only provide a small amount of energy to the grid (about 1.3kw at its peak). However what the solar panels allow Ergon to do is to have a conversation with their customers about energy efficiency. The Solar City program begins with an energy assessment. (It is called an assessment rather than an audit because it is a friendlier word) The Assessment is based upon the Government’s star rating on a scale of five (the average Australian home rates about a 2.5). Once the original assessment is made, the Ergon energy team will replace all incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s, will replace high flow shower heads with low flow shower heads, will offer to remove inefficient appliances, give credits towards new appliances, and will show homeowners how to take advantage of off-peak tariffs. Only after all of this is done, is the customer asked if they would like solar panels on the roof. In addition to the solar panels, the homeowner receives a IHD (In Home Display) which shows on a real time basis, the energy that is used in the home. The readout is accompanied by a colored row of lights that change from green to light green to orange to red, depending on the amount of electricity used. The IHD keeps track not only of kilowatt hours used, but also the amount of greenhouse gas emitted to generate that electricity. The IHD also maintains 7 day and 28 Day historical data. This is a very simple device, but is very effective at communicating the energy usage of the home. The Solar Lifestyle Center also hands out booklets and other materials which reinforce the messages of energy efficiency. It asks that the homes display a sticker declaring themselves a solar household as well as a refrigerator magnet that the homeowner writes on describing what steps they will take to be more efficient and then signing it. It creates an informal action contract between Ergon and the household to continue energy efficiency measures.
We then toured around the island looking at some of the solar panels that have been installed. They are very unobtrusive and on some homes can hardly be seen from street level.
Amy and I took the ferry back to the Townsville and now we are headed for the final part of the trip: Sydney.

P.S. I'm sorry, but I can't recommend the Holiday Inn Townsville...at least until after the renovations.

Townsville

May 11, 2009
Townsville
After a few days of R and R in Port Douglas, today Amy and I arrived in Townsville. Townsville is about a 45 minute flight south of Cairns in North Queensland. I met today with Ian Cruickshank who is the Manager of the Solar City on Magnetic Island for Ergon Energy. We met for about an hour where he took me through the Solar City project. Interestingly, Ergon Energy has, in conjunction with energy assessments, installed many solar cells on tops of roofs on Magnetic Island that do not feed electricity into the individual houses. Instead, the energy is generated directly into the grid. In fact, the customer gets no benefit from the solar panels on the roof (no benefit from the Queensland Feed in tariff) except for the feeling that they are doing something for the environment. The Solar City uses smart meters, In-home displays as well as a educational center to reduce the amount of load that is necessary to power Magnetic Island. Ergon is an energy distributor. They pay for and maintain all of the solar panels for one simple reason. It is more economical to maintain the solar and reduce the amount of generation than is needed than it is to add another cable from the mainland to provide electricity.
Amy and I are going to see the actual operations on Magnetic Island with Ian tomorrow.

Port Douglas

Amy arrived safely and we spent a great weekend in Port Douglas. The weather was not ideal, rainy, but we went on a short boat ride in some of the inlets and saw some really BIG saltwater crocodiles. We spent Mother's Day snorkeling in at the Agincourt Reef at the Great Barrier Reef. The ride out was a little rough, but the snorkeling was still pretty amazing. WE got some great pictures of the fish and both of us wearing lycra suits (for the stingers!) and wet suits (for the warmth).

Today, we flew to Townsville, to see the Solar City project.