The solar energy lobby failed to make much of an impact at the board elections at the Clean Energy Council on Thursday, with only one of its representatives, Trina Solar's John Susa, elected to fill one of five seats available. The solar industry, which had been seeking to increase is board numbers to reflect its large membership numbers and voting power, also failed to prevent a resolution that will reduce the board size gradually from 13 to 9, and take away two seats that had been reserved for associate members.

Solar companies will account for one third of the 12-seat board, although they about half of the membership voting power, and three quarters of membership numbers. However, larger corporate sponsors have more votes for membership. Also elected to the board on Thursday were Ken McAlpine from wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, Lane Crocket from Pacific Hydro, which has investments mostly in wind, but is also involved in the 150MW solar PV project at Moree, as well as hydro investments overseas, Hydro Tasmania CEO Roy Adair, and Martin Jones from CSR. Only Transfield CEO Steve McDonald failed to get re-elected. 10 other candidates also presented. AGL chief Michael Fraser was confirmed as chairman.

Cheap can be good

Some of the carbon trading schemes around the world have been branded a dismal failure when their prices have slumped. Sometimes, in the case of Europe in 2006, it was because of bad design. Others, though, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (REGGI) in the north-east of the US, it is seen as a sign of success, according to one leading energy expert. Richard Cowart, a former chief energy regulator in the US state of Vermont who now serves as chair of the electricity advisory committee for the US Department of Energy, says nearly $1 billion has been raised from the trading scheme in REGGI, with 55 per cent of the funds raised re-invested in energy efficiency measures and 25 per cent in renewable energy.

The investments in energy efficiency, he says, have doubled the numbers of such programs in the 10-member states, have lowered electricity prices and contributed more than $1.6 billion to the region’s economy, and created 16,000 jobs – all at an average avoided carbon cost of a negative $73/tonne.
“That’s a carbon price that people don’t have any trouble with,” Cowart told Climate Spectator. “How you spend the revenue raised is at least as important as how high the price is.” The REGGI market usually trades at around $2-$3 a tonne. “The goal of a carbon program is to reduce emissions at lowest possible cost. It should not be the goal of the carbon program to have high price on carbon.”

Sydney savers

The City of Sydney has joined forces with the owners of nearly 60 per cent of the CBD's office space to develop a series of programs to cut energy, water and carbon pollution costs. The initiative, called the Sydney Better Buildings Partnership (BBP), comes under the recent NSW Environmental Upgrade Agreements (EUA) law and allows commercial property owners to share the costs of building upgrades with tenants, who can, in turn, benefit from reduced energy or water costs. Through voluntary agreements involving building owners, finance providers and a local council, the cost of environmental upgrades can be repaid by a charge on the property collected by the council on behalf of the finance providers.

“Greater Sydney is the most power-hungry geographical area in the country and buildings produce nearly a quarter of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said. “This program will overcome a significant barrier for building owners who are discouraged from undertaking environmental upgrades where the tenant benefits from the lower electricity and water bills,” she said. The Council plans to sign its first voluntary agreement by the end of the year and have 10 in operation over the following 12 months. The program is being partly funded by the NSW Office of the Environment and Heritage.

The art of energy efficiency

New environmental guidelines aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of Australian museums and galleries were recognised at the Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNA) in Perth this week, winning the top overall MAGNA prize and the Museums Australia Sustainability Award. The guidelines were established by a taskforce of Australia’s leading conservators from public and private sectors – the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) – to try to marry energy efficiency with the energy-intensive and costly (accounting for up to 70 per cent of operating costs) standards of display and storage conditions in museums and galleries.

AICCM says the new guidelines will provide the framework for assessing how far environmental levels can be relaxed without potentially damaging objects and artwork; a welcome reprieve for galleries and museums, it says, in a climate of rising energy costs and static or reduced budgets. In accepting the award on Thursday, Julian Bickersteth, chair of the AICCM taskforce, said the key driver for the project was "to move museums to more sustainable models of operation and reduce their energy usage and associated costs.” The guidelines are yet to be publicly released but have been well-received in the industry for their ability to provide practical sustainable solutions, particularly for curators, museum building managers and financial officers. The AICCM will hold a master class in Canberra next May to share the environmental framework with the arts and conservation sector.

Climate cinema

Oliver Yates, the former head of climate change at Macquarie Bank, is about to release a feature documentary that he describes as the “social equivalent” of Al Gore’s climate change film, An Inconvenient Truth. The film, entitled Decadence - Decline of the Western World, has been five years in the making (by film maker Pria Viswalingam), was shot in 10 countries and seeks to document the symptoms of social dislocation that have, coincidentally, recently surfaced in the global “Occupy” movement.

“I am pleased with the film but the result will be in the effect it has," says Yates. "I believe that the new generation is struggling with society as they see it today. They have a feeling that something is just not adding up but don't know what exactly it is and why. Decadance reflects upon why disenchantment and social dislocation are plainly bubbling over in the industrialised world. Grassroots disillusionment within western societies is finding voice and action in the 'Occupy' protests, the Eurozone tensions and the UK riots.” The documentary makes its Australian debut at Sydney’s Roseville Cinema on December 1, and Melbourne’s Nova Cinema a week later.