Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
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.
Tonight, we are headed to dinner with Catherine Livingstone, a former Eisenhower Fellow, along with Meredith Hellicar and her husband.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, May 11, 2009
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.
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.
Today, we flew to Townsville, to see the Solar City project.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Brisbane
Amy arrives tomorrow morning!!! We are headed for some R and R when she gets here to the Great Barrier Reef at Port Douglas.
Brisbane
Thursday May 7, 2009
Today was a pretty typical day. The meetings I had were all interesting, but I really didn’t learn that much new. I met with Matthew Andrew, a great guy at the Queensland Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry. He is responsible for Renewable and Alternative Fuels. We had a very interesting discussion about the use of biofuels. We talked about the very American phenomenon that Australians have as well…They like their cars and Australian egos are very much tied up in their car. We discussed the Queensland Government’s investment into the future biofuel technology that will help power the cars that Australians are so fond of.
My second meeting was with Vicki Daniel. Vicki is a consultant working for Change 2020, which is a firm that helps companies deal with large scale change. She introduced me to Michael Stolz who is consulting with two energy companies for the roll out of smart meters.
My next meeting was with Bill Walker and Dan O’Sullivan from the Queensland Department of Tourism, Regional Development & Industry, Environmental Technologies and Emerging Industries. I discussed the potential impact of CPRS on those current technologies as well as the new advancements in geothermal, solar and wind.
Finally, I met with Ian O’Hara who is involved in research on Sugar Ethanol and Biomass production for the Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities. He is working on developing more efficient uses of the biomass that is left over from the abundant sugar crops in Queensland.
Today was a pretty typical day. The meetings I had were all interesting, but I really didn’t learn that much new. I met with Matthew Andrew, a great guy at the Queensland Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry. He is responsible for Renewable and Alternative Fuels. We had a very interesting discussion about the use of biofuels. We talked about the very American phenomenon that Australians have as well…They like their cars and Australian egos are very much tied up in their car. We discussed the Queensland Government’s investment into the future biofuel technology that will help power the cars that Australians are so fond of.
My second meeting was with Vicki Daniel. Vicki is a consultant working for Change 2020, which is a firm that helps companies deal with large scale change. She introduced me to Michael Stolz who is consulting with two energy companies for the roll out of smart meters.
My next meeting was with Bill Walker and Dan O’Sullivan from the Queensland Department of Tourism, Regional Development & Industry, Environmental Technologies and Emerging Industries. I discussed the potential impact of CPRS on those current technologies as well as the new advancements in geothermal, solar and wind.
Finally, I met with Ian O’Hara who is involved in research on Sugar Ethanol and Biomass production for the Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities. He is working on developing more efficient uses of the biomass that is left over from the abundant sugar crops in Queensland.
Brisbane
Wednesday May 6, 2009
I had a great day today. I spent most of the day at the University of Queensland. UQ has a beautiful campus that is marked by great sandstone buildings and some very modern science buildings. My first meeting was with Dr. Peter Isdale. Dr. Isdale is the CEO of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Dr. Isdale has been an advocate for recognizing climate change for many years and is an articulate voice for the “risk management” approach to climate change. In other words, taking steps to mitigate climate change are like an insurance premium meant to avoid the massive costs of doing nothing to mitigate climate change.
My second meeting was with Professor Peter Gresshoff. Professor Gresshoff is the director if the ARC Centre of Excellence Integrated Legume Research facility at UQ. He was originally born in Berlin, but has lived in the US as well as Australia. He is doing amazing work in the area of legumes and nitrogen fixation. He is currently experimenting extracting oil from a very large seed of the Pongamia tree. The Pongamia tree captures its own nitrogen and produces a seed that produces an oil that can be used in an efficient bio-fuel. This helps solve the carbon issue as well as the need for large amounts of fertile causing release of nitrogen into the air. Nitrogen is considered a worse greenhouse gas than carbon. Professor Gresshoff took me to a very nice lunch at the St. Lucia golf course.
I spent the balance of the day with Ben Hankamer, finishing our conversations from earlier in the day as well as working on creating a 5 slide standard PowerPoint deck on climate change. I think we are going to try to get some other Eisenhower Fellowships to sign on but ultimately we want any Eisenhower Fellow that wants to use the slide to be able to.
Ben and I met Richard Jefferson for dinner. Richard is the Director of the Initiative of Open Innovation at the Queensland University of Technology. Richard is an American microbiologist who has pioneered “open source” use of patents. He and other members of his collaborative allow access to any patents that they hold and only require in return that they do not assert any patent protection over what the develop. The idea is to encourage collaboration and the exchange of information and to make “good” products the most commercially viable rather than those that merely assert patent protection. We had a lively discussion at dinner and I really enjoyed myself.
I had a great day today. I spent most of the day at the University of Queensland. UQ has a beautiful campus that is marked by great sandstone buildings and some very modern science buildings. My first meeting was with Dr. Peter Isdale. Dr. Isdale is the CEO of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Dr. Isdale has been an advocate for recognizing climate change for many years and is an articulate voice for the “risk management” approach to climate change. In other words, taking steps to mitigate climate change are like an insurance premium meant to avoid the massive costs of doing nothing to mitigate climate change.
My second meeting was with Professor Peter Gresshoff. Professor Gresshoff is the director if the ARC Centre of Excellence Integrated Legume Research facility at UQ. He was originally born in Berlin, but has lived in the US as well as Australia. He is doing amazing work in the area of legumes and nitrogen fixation. He is currently experimenting extracting oil from a very large seed of the Pongamia tree. The Pongamia tree captures its own nitrogen and produces a seed that produces an oil that can be used in an efficient bio-fuel. This helps solve the carbon issue as well as the need for large amounts of fertile causing release of nitrogen into the air. Nitrogen is considered a worse greenhouse gas than carbon. Professor Gresshoff took me to a very nice lunch at the St. Lucia golf course.
I spent the balance of the day with Ben Hankamer, finishing our conversations from earlier in the day as well as working on creating a 5 slide standard PowerPoint deck on climate change. I think we are going to try to get some other Eisenhower Fellowships to sign on but ultimately we want any Eisenhower Fellow that wants to use the slide to be able to.
Ben and I met Richard Jefferson for dinner. Richard is the Director of the Initiative of Open Innovation at the Queensland University of Technology. Richard is an American microbiologist who has pioneered “open source” use of patents. He and other members of his collaborative allow access to any patents that they hold and only require in return that they do not assert any patent protection over what the develop. The idea is to encourage collaboration and the exchange of information and to make “good” products the most commercially viable rather than those that merely assert patent protection. We had a lively discussion at dinner and I really enjoyed myself.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Brisbane
I had three meetings today. The first was with Matthew Skoien, Senior Director in the Queensland Office of Climate Change. We spoke about the federal CPRS scheme, including the changes that were announced yesterday which delayed the beginning of the scheme as well as changed some compensation for affected industries. Matthew was involved with the design of the Federal system as well as helping design schemes for Queensland that will fill in the gaps that the CPRS does not cover. Queensland is the largest per capita emitter of carbon in Australia and is one of the largest in the world. They have large agriculture interests which are not covered by the CPRS and have large generation and mining facilities. Matthew is currently working on a plan that will address some of the shortfalls as well as implement complimentary schemes to fill the gaps.
My second meeting was a lunch hosted by Sir Leo Hielscher. Sir Leo is the Chairman of the Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC). He was an Eisenhower Fellow in 1973 and has remained very active. We had an outstanding lunch with about 10 people from government, industry and from the QTC. Most of the discussion was around the US’s potential implementation of cap and trade as well as financing difficulties associated with the global financial crises. Ben Hankamer, a 2009 Eisenhower Fellow also attended.
My third meeting was with Dr. John Cole who is the Chief Officer of the Queensland Office of Clean Energy. Dr. Cole is responsible for planning and implementing renewable energy targets. We spoke about the resources available in Queensland including geothermal, solar and wind. We also discussed some of the barriers to full scale development. The most important of these barriers are increased cost due to the need for transmission infrastructure.
My second meeting was a lunch hosted by Sir Leo Hielscher. Sir Leo is the Chairman of the Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC). He was an Eisenhower Fellow in 1973 and has remained very active. We had an outstanding lunch with about 10 people from government, industry and from the QTC. Most of the discussion was around the US’s potential implementation of cap and trade as well as financing difficulties associated with the global financial crises. Ben Hankamer, a 2009 Eisenhower Fellow also attended.
My third meeting was with Dr. John Cole who is the Chief Officer of the Queensland Office of Clean Energy. Dr. Cole is responsible for planning and implementing renewable energy targets. We spoke about the resources available in Queensland including geothermal, solar and wind. We also discussed some of the barriers to full scale development. The most important of these barriers are increased cost due to the need for transmission infrastructure.
Brisbane
I've had a pretty amazing couple of days. I hope to upload a bunch of pictures later. I arrived in Brisbane on Friday and found almost immediately a great energy here as well. It is different from Melbourne. A little less sophisticated, a little smaller but great nonetheless. I have explored the City as well as Southbank and found some pretty good restaurants and cafes.
Saturday was a great day. I met Professor Melissa Little, an Eisenhower fellow from 2006 and she took me to the Lone Pine Sanctuary. Here I got to see and pet a Koala as well as pet a Kangaroo. You can enter a pen where the kangaroos are lying around allowing people to pet them. I have some good pictures that I will post when I can. Melissa then hosted me for dinner with her American-born husband Mahlon and her son Nathanial. Nathanial reminded me of what my son Connor will be like at age 11. Mahlon cooked dinner and we had great conversation. The next morning they picked me up and we went to the O'Reilly plateau. The O'Reilly plateau is an entrance to the temperate rain forest. The views were absolutely spectacular. We walked to Python Rock and Mason Falls. Again, the views were nothing I had ever seen before. The O'Reilly plateau is about 2 hours south, so it took much of the day.
Today, I was hosted by Ben Hankamer. Ben is a 2009 Australian Fellow and is a biofuel researcher doing a lot of work with algae and carbon capture and sequestration. We had great conversation about energy, but today was more about sightseeing. We saw the Glass House Mountains, some small towns and went to Noosa Beach, a spectacular beach about an hour and a half north of Brisbane. I can't do it justice, but when I post the pictures, hopefully, you will get a feel for it.
Other big news of the day, the Australian Government has modified the Carbon trading scheme, delaying implementation until 2011, allowing for a carbon reduction target of up to 25% with a global agreement and increased compensation to the industries that are the most severely affected by the CPRS scheme (carbon pollution reduction scheme). This is going to be hotly debated over the next few months and I happy to watch the debate.
Saturday was a great day. I met Professor Melissa Little, an Eisenhower fellow from 2006 and she took me to the Lone Pine Sanctuary. Here I got to see and pet a Koala as well as pet a Kangaroo. You can enter a pen where the kangaroos are lying around allowing people to pet them. I have some good pictures that I will post when I can. Melissa then hosted me for dinner with her American-born husband Mahlon and her son Nathanial. Nathanial reminded me of what my son Connor will be like at age 11. Mahlon cooked dinner and we had great conversation. The next morning they picked me up and we went to the O'Reilly plateau. The O'Reilly plateau is an entrance to the temperate rain forest. The views were absolutely spectacular. We walked to Python Rock and Mason Falls. Again, the views were nothing I had ever seen before. The O'Reilly plateau is about 2 hours south, so it took much of the day.
Today, I was hosted by Ben Hankamer. Ben is a 2009 Australian Fellow and is a biofuel researcher doing a lot of work with algae and carbon capture and sequestration. We had great conversation about energy, but today was more about sightseeing. We saw the Glass House Mountains, some small towns and went to Noosa Beach, a spectacular beach about an hour and a half north of Brisbane. I can't do it justice, but when I post the pictures, hopefully, you will get a feel for it.
Other big news of the day, the Australian Government has modified the Carbon trading scheme, delaying implementation until 2011, allowing for a carbon reduction target of up to 25% with a global agreement and increased compensation to the industries that are the most severely affected by the CPRS scheme (carbon pollution reduction scheme). This is going to be hotly debated over the next few months and I happy to watch the debate.
Friday, May 1, 2009
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