6.30 - 8.30pm, the first Monday of each month
Next meeting: Monday, 7th July. 2nd floor, Kindness House, 288 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
THIS MONTH'S GUEST SPEAKER: STEWART TAGGART
This month, the Beyond Zero Emissions discussion group will again focus on Concentrated Solar Power, but this time in the context of a bold plan to harness Australia's solar resource to supply a large portion of our energy needs.
Our guest speaker via telephone link-up from Sydney will be Stewart Taggart. Stewart is a director of Acquasol Infrastructure Ltd, a developer of environmentally friendly power and water projects. He is also Australian administrator of TREC Australia, or "Clean Energy From Deserts." Stewart will give the group an overview of European TREC, and talk about how this concept could be adapted to the Australian context.
The Trans- Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) was formed by the Club of Rome and the Hamburg Climate Protection Foundation in 2003. It promotes the idea of supplying renewable energy to Europe via high voltage direct current transmission lines (HVDC) from the immense solar and wind resources of the deserts in North Africa and in the Middle East.
The plan has many advantages, including reducing the variability of these energy sources by wide geographic dispersion, and enabling these regions to become exporters of clean energy.
It is supported by the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the German Green Party, the German Physics society, The German Advisory Council on Global Change, Greenpeace and Prince Hassan Bin Al Talal of Jordan. The German Aerospace Centre (DRL) has done several major studies on it's viability.
Further Reading
For general information on TREC visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Mediterranean_Renewable_Energy_Cooperation
TREC Australia
http://www.trec.net.au/
Acquasol Infrastructure
http://www.acquasol.com.au/
WHY WE NEED A ZERO CARBON FUTURE
Beyond Zero Emissions endorses the latest scientific findings that there is already too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and that it must be reduced to below current levels in order to decrease the probability of sudden, irreversible and catastrophic climate change.
According to Prof. James Hansen, Director of the Goddard Institute of Space Studies at NASA, dangerous tipping points have already been crossed.
The transition to a zero carbon economy is not only an urgent necessity, it is entirely achievable using existing technology. The discussion group exchanges information and ideas to transform Australia into a zero carbon economy as quickly as possible.
For more info contact Mark on 0421 272 884 or email mark@beyondzeroemissions.org
View a pdf of Coal Switch draft document- from the first discussion group
PREVIOUS MONTH'S GUEST SPEAKERS
Monday, 2nd June 2008
Dr. Keith Lovegrove, head of the ANU Solar Thermal Group and world leading solar expert addressing the group via telephone link-up from Canberra.
Dr. Keith Lovegrove is a senior lecturer in Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the ANU. He heads the ANU Solar Thermal Group which works on a range of projects involving high and low temperature thermal conversion of solar energy. This includes looking at dish and trough concentrators and thermochemical energy storage. He is widely published in scientific journals and has advised the Australian Government on CSP . Dr Lovegrove and his team are at the forefront of International research into concentrated solar power. http://engnet.anu.edu.au/DEresearch/solarthermal/index.php
Monday, 5th May 2008
Dr. Patrick Moriarty, leading energy and transport researcher and academic.
Dr Patrick Moriarty is a leading academic and researcher in the field of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. He is currently Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Monash University. Over a thirty six year career he has researched and published widely in leading journals in Australia and overseas. His main research interests have included urban land use, transport and energy issues. An important part of his research has been the climate change implications of different fuels/energy sources for transport and electricity generation. He is also particularly interested in the limits of technological changes and efficiencies in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, as opposed to behavioral changes or social efficiency measures.
Monday April 7th 2008
Inaugural 'Transition to a Zero Carbon Future' discussion group meeting. Beyond Zero Emissions outlines its "Coal Switch" philosophy in which the state of Victoria's greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 50% in 3 years.
View a pdf of Coal Switch draft document- from the first discussion group
See Victoria's open cut mines from a birds eye view using Google Earth.
Use Google Earth Victoria's Open Cut Coal Mines
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