Posts Tagged ‘energy’
Delivering Clean Energy Solutions: Info Session
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on September 2nd, 2011
| 3 September , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 12:00 pm |
Photo by Stuck In Customs via flickr CC
Brunswick DCES Info Session
Interested in solar but find it confusing?
Delivering Clean Energy Solutions is a community bulk buy offering efficient, high quality and cost effective solar electricity and solar hot water systems. The DCES info session is your opportunity to meet the suppliers, have your questions answered and find out how to get the most out of your solar electricity or solar hot water system. DCES is project managed by MEFL on behalf of partners.
When: Sat 3 Sept, 10am-12pm
Where: Brunswick Town Hall, 233 Sydney Rd
RSVP for catering: dces@mefl.com.au or 9385 8526
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The Future of the Electricity Network in Australia
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on August 23rd, 2011
| 24 August , 2011 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
Effective and efficient transmission of electric power from generators to consumers is a vital part of the electricity system. Australia’s national transmission network is the longest AC system in the world, extending 5000km from Queensland to Tasmania to Port Augusta, supplying 19 million residents. As demand continues to grow and the penetration of renewables on the grid increases, the national transmission network will require significant extensions and upgrades. But what is the optimal design to support a very different energy system in the 21st century? Variable and distributed generation and potential large storage systems (such as an electric vehicle fleet) make this a diabolical question that the panel of experts will address in detail.
Wednesday August 24, from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Carrillo Gartner Theatre
Corner Swanston Street & Monash Road
The University of Melbourne
Carlton
Visit the booking site for more details or to register your attendance
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Build Green Expo
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on August 19th, 2011
| 18 August , 2011 10:00 am | to | 21 August , 2011 6:00 pm |
http://buildgreenexpo.com.au/melbourne/
Dr Frank Neumann: Wind Turbine Placement Optimisation
Posted in Events by Mark Ogge on July 25th, 2011
| 1 August , 2011 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
Dr Frank Neumann is Senior Lecturer at University of Adelaide’s School of Computer Science. He is working on wind turbine placement optimisation in collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr Neumann has developed computer algorithms that maximise the energy generated, given a particular terrain, turbine type, wind direction and area of land. These are called “evolutionary algorithms” because they are inspired by biological evolution. An evolutionary algorithm is a mathematical process where potential solutions keep being improved a step at a time until the optimum is reached.
Time: 6:30- 8pm Monday 1 August 2011
Fritz Loewe Theatre (entry via level 2)
McCoy Building
University of Melbourne
Cnr Elgin & Swanston Streets, Carlton
Thank you to the University of Melbourne Energy Research Institute, our Zero Carbon Australia project partners for joining us in bringing you this event.
Entry: Gold coin donation
Further reading:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/05/05/3207705.htm?site=adelaide
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news45021.html
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/adelaidean/issues/45921/news46041.html
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Urban Farmers: “Homegrown” Film Screening
Posted in Events, Models by Kate Archdeacon on July 13th, 2011
| 20 July , 2011 | ||
| 12:30 am | to | 9:30 pm |
Life Changing Docos and the Transition Decade Alliance proudly present HOMEGROWN, hosted by the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
Join us for the last public screening of HOMEGROWN… it follows the Dervaes family who run a small organic farm in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. While “living off the grid”, they harvest over 6,000 pounds (2.7 Metric Tons) of produce on a fifth of an acre (800 square metres), make their own bio diesel, power their computers with the help of solar panels, and maintain a website that gets 4,000 hits a day. The film is an intimate human portrait of what it’s like to live like “Little House on the Prairie” in the 21st Century. After the screening the on-stage panel of experts will discuss the issues and solutions raised by the film, and field questions from the audience. Come along and meet the people that are an integral part of positive and sustainable solutions.
Wednesday, July 20 · 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Melbourne Law Building Theatrette
University of Melbourne
>>Bookings page (tickets are $20 on-line or $25 on the night)
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Energy Saver Initiative: Competition
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on June 13th, 2011
Energy Saver Initiative
There are many ways to save energy. So tell us in a few words (max 150) what your organisation has done or could do to save energy and you could win $10,000 to lower energy use even further. It’s all part of Bendigo Bank and Carbon Down joining forces to encourage environmental sustainability initiatives in Victorian businesses and organisations.
1st Prize $10,000 to reduce your organisation’s energy use
2nd Prize $5,000 Bendigo Bank financial planning advice and services
3rd prize $1,000 VECCI Sustainability Services Energy Assessment
If you’d like some ideas to get you started, go to www.whatcanidorightnow.com.au, www.carboncompass.com.au, www.growmethemoney.com.au or www.bendigobank.com.au/greenbusiness. There’s solutions, case studies and a whole lot more to inspire you.
PLUS, all entries will receive a FREE energy saving power board*. Now that’s an incentive (especially as stand-by power can equate to 6% of a business’s energy bill!) . Enter today. The more businesses and organisations that participate the better it is for our environment.
The competition closes Midnight 30th June 2011.
* While stocks last. There’s over 5,000 to give away.
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The Blue Economy: Public Lecture
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 9th, 2011
| 10 June , 2011 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 2:00 pm |
The mission of The Blue Economy is to prove 100 manufacturing innovations with viable business models that could generate 100 million jobs in 10 years, all with zero waste impact on the environment. Each innovation is inspired by science and draw on biomimetics and the laws of physics. They cover the full gamut of industrial activity, from energy to mining to medicine to banking. The innovations are summarized on the ZERI website and distributed around the world in partnership with UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), UNIDO ( United Nations Industrial Development Corporation), and The Club of Rome.
Gunter will also discuss his current initiative, which is to replace all nuclear power in Germany with renewables within 10 years without subsidies or hikes in tariffs. It uses a combination of three proven technologies:
- vertical wind turbines within existing high tension transmission towers
- biogas generation from waste water treatment plants and organic solid municipal waste
- solar using innovative film
Register for the event here.
Friday, June 10, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Theatre A, Elisabeth Murdoch Building
The University of Melbourne
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Appliance & Lighting Energy Calculator: Port Phillip Eco-Centre
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on June 8th, 2011
Source: Port Philip EcoCentre
The Port Phillip EcoCentre has developed a new energy calculator which will enable you to calculate how much energy you use in each room of your house for lighting and for appliances. It helps you identify opportunities for greater efficiency and shows you the results in $ and [CO2]. The potential savings in carbon and real AUD-moolah are staggering. Click here, download the spreadsheet, make a few minutes available to go round the house, counting lightbulbs and appliances, and you could save enough to pay for a holiday. Seriously.
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Conflicts Between Climate, Energy and Water Policies: Lessons from Texas
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 1st, 2011
| 2 June , 2011 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
FREE PUBLIC LECTURE Melbourne Energy Institute
Conflicts between climate, energy and water policies: lessons from Texas
Speaker: Associate Professor Michael Webber
Prof. Webber will introduce the climate, energy and water nexus with particular reference to the situation in Texas, a jurisdiction of similar dimensions to Australia and with similar climate, energy and water challenges. He will outline the limits to new fossil, nuclear and renewable energy generation due to water scarcity, and the energy demand implications of supplementing water supplies. He will outline examples of potential knowledge, technological and regulatory solutions to the climate, energy and water nexus from Texas and the United States more broadly, and give his thoughts on priority policy measures.
Thursday 2nd June 5.30—7.00 pm
Graduate House, The University of Melbourne 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, Vic 3053
Click through to register your attendance
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In-Home Displays for Energy Management
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on May 31st, 2011
From “Origin of an energy revolution” by Giles Parkinson:
The roll-out of in-house display systems for energy use promises to revolutionise the way the consumers understand and consume energy. Origin, the largest retailer in the country, has kicked it off by announcing the largest pilot scheme of in-home displays in Australia – one that will involve 5,000 households over the next six months. But the rollout has far greater implications than consumer experience: it also promises to revolutionise the way that energy utilities conduct their business.
[..]
A report released last year by Ernst & Young entitled Seeing Energy Differently described the challenge facing energy utilities in dealing with the providers of new “smart technology” and responding to the demands of improved efficiency. Basically it came down to two options: either the utilities form partnerships with third parties to help consumers manage their energy and evolve the model into a new, sophisticated form of energy service; or they stonewall and come under competitive attack all along the value chain.
[...]
Origin has chosen as its partner the Colorado-based Tendril, which provides an in-home display that allows customers “unprecedented visibility” into energy usage, personalised estimates of monthly electricity bills and the ability to control household consumption. It allows communications over the web, mobile phone and home area networks, and can link with smart appliances and electric vehicles. And, of course, the energy company can see this information too.
Exactly how that business model will evolve is not yet clear because there are so many different factors that can still be brought to bear. But for Australian energy consumers, in-house displays – which look something like the dashboard displays in your car – are not far away. After the six-month pilot, Origin intends to then roll out the displays to all its 4.6 million customers – although the extent to which this can happen will depend on the rollout of the underlying infrastructure, which in this case is smart meters.
Craig [Phil Craig, the head of retail at Origin Energy] says that by the end of the decade, consumers can expect to have smart appliances in their home that can respond to a pricing signal and turn themselves off. There will be charge points in the garage where the plug-in electric vehicle can choose the best time to charge itself, or even send electrons back into the grid. And, says Davis [sic], there could be much larger solar systems on our homes.
[...]
“It will be a whole different model. Energy will be a more engaging product, people will be more interested and more actively thinking about it. We have got to try and stay ahead of the trends, adapt and try to understand what the new business model looks like.”
And the cost? The rollout of smart meters has gotten bad press, because so far it has involved higher electricity bills with little ability to modify behaviour.
Craig says the in-home displays should change those dynamics. But the cost that people will be paying in years to come will be governed as much by generation and network costs, as it will by in home displays. And other factors will also come into play, such as solar, which will be more economically viable and could lead to larger systems. “It depends how people react. But we will be putting power into the hands of consumers, so if they want to do something about it, they can change the nature of their consumption.”
Read the full article by Giles Parkinson on Climate Spectator.
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A quick search seems to indicate that the In-Home Displays (IHD) are being offered to households in the Australian Government’s Solar Cities program – below are a couple of links for more information. KA
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