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.