tsc03941 renewable energy think tank 2 background material

Renewable Energy Think Tank #2

Background material

Renewable Energy Think Tank #2 - Background material

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ContentsIntroduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 3Renewable Energy Think Tank .......................................................................................................................... 3

Think Tank #2 objectives .................................................................................................................................... 3

Outputs .............................................................................................................................................................. 3

Outcomes .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Renewable Think Tank #1 discussion ............................................................................................................... 4

Local facilities ...................................................................................................................................................... 7Condong co-generation facility .......................................................................................................................... 7

Boral .................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Recent documents .............................................................................................................................................. 8NSW North Coast Bioenergy Scoping Study 2013 ........................................................................................... 8

Findings from the 2012 Clean Energy Australia Report ................................................................................. 10

Regional State of the Environment report ....................................................................................................... 10

Sustain Energy Skills Report ........................................................................................................................... 10

'Energy from Waste' state government draft policy framework ....................................................................... 11

Key considerations ........................................................................................................................................... 12System capacity costs ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Solar ................................................................................................................................................................ 13

Does solar pay? .............................................................................................................................................. 14

Local solar industry and maintenance concerns ............................................................................................. 14

Storage ............................................................................................................................................................ 14

The case for storage ................................................................................................................................... 14

Biomass ...................................................................................................................................................... 15

Batteries ...................................................................................................................................................... 16

Recent projects .................................................................................................................................................. 16

East Lismore Sewage Treatment Plant - Farming the Sun project ................................................................. 16

Sunshine City Council Valdora Solar Farm ..................................................................................................... 17

Clean Energy Map .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Recent events .................................................................................................................................................... 17

Federal government announcements about moving to an emissions trading scheme................................... 17

North Coast Energy Forum ............................................................................................................................. 18

Recent/current programs .................................................................................................................................. 18

OEH's call for Community Renewable Energy Projects ................................................................................. 18

Home Power Savings Program ....................................................................................................................... 18

Federal Home Energy Saver Scheme ............................................................................................................ 18

NSW Energy Savings Scheme ....................................................................................................................... 18

International Best Practice ............................................................................................................................... 18Tube digesters ............................................................................................................................................ 18

Small scale farm-based bioenergy facilities ............................................................................................... 19

Renewable Energy Think Tank #2 - Background Report

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Potential funding sources ................................................................................................................................ 19Clean Energy Finance Corporation ................................................................................................................ 19

ARENA ........................................................................................................................................................... 19

Clean Technology Program ............................................................................................................................ 19


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Introduction This background report has been compiled by Tweed Shire Council and Think Tank participants to share recent information relevant to renewable energy opportunities in the Tweed Shire.

The report will be distributed prior to the Tweed Renewable Energy Think Tank #2 to ensure all Think Tank participants come to the event with the same awareness of recent developments.

All participants are encouraged to review this information prior to the event. We hope to make the most of people's time at the Think Tank to generate tangible next steps for renewable energy initiatives in the Tweed.

Renewable Energy Think Tank The Renewable Energy Think Tank aims to identify viable opportunities for renewable energy projects in Tweed Shire, because Australia has the potential for vast renewable energy production.

The project also aims to educate the community to achieve a substantial reduction in Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, because electricity generation accounts for most of the country's carbon emissions.

The Renewable Energy Think Tank should also aim to:

Determine the region's energy demand profile - work with all the energy retailers operating in the area and gather data about peak load times and volumes, average weekly, monthly, yearly consumption in total and, if possible, across various sectors.

Determine the region's energy supply profile - work with energy retailers operating in the area to gather data such as:

* Percentage of energy supplied from renewable and non-renewable sources. * Where is it produced. * How far does it travel. * Approximate line-losses during transportation. * How many green power customers. * How are their renewable energy demands met? * How many roof-top and/or grid interactive solar systems (and total kWh capacity)?

Identify opportunities for new (renewable) energy supply sources in the region, such as turbines, solar farms on disused banana farm slopes, big solar on council facilities, solar community programs, expansion of co-generation opportunities in industry.

Identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements across all sectors, so the demand profile is easier to match to the supply profile.

Think Tank #2 objectives Identify viable opportunities for renewable energy projects in Tweed Shire

Outputs Describe projects and partners, potential sources of funding, research required.

Create a renewable energy action plan for Council endorsement as part of Tweed's draft Climate Change Strategy

Report Think Tank outcomes to the community

Outcomes A shared understanding of opportunities to be pursued and clear responsibilities

A partnership between council, local experts, and other relevant agencies.


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Renewable Think Tank #1 discussion Council officer and Think Tank participants' responses to themes raised at the last Think Tank:

Key themes Key considerations

Efficiencies: audit, review of power supply cycle

Council is currently investing in asset based energy efficiency projects and small scale renewable energy installations as funds allow.

Net meters are in place

Power factor correction are being investigated as cost-effective energy efficiency improvements.

LED lighting trials are underway.

Options to improve the function, management and efficiency of the HVAC chiller at Murwillumbah Civic Centre are being considered.

Large aircon units and chillers, swimming pools and large commercial kitchens should be primary targets for energy efficiency audits.

Localised grid opportunities: reducing network costs

Options to install co-generation at Tweed River Aquatic Centre (Murwillumbah) are being investigated, including diverting power to the Civic Centre if emergency backup is required.

Traditional co or trigeneration required a relatively cheap fuel such as piped natural gas. Is that available? Alternatives are biogas or solar heat. Local heat recovery from indoor pool air is also possible.

Biomass:

- green waste

Collection processes are in place for household green waste.

The key opportunity in the region is the pyrolysis plant proposed by Ballina Shire Council. Notwithstanding this Council is undertaking a review of the Domestic Waste Strategy to review all options for green waste and putrescible waste to determine the most viable option for managing this part of the waste stream.

- municipal waste

- biosolids Council currently produces about 1,500 dry tonnes of biosolids per year.

Energy production from biosolids by thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion options has been considered but was found to be unsuitable due to existing plant processes, production volumes and space availability.

Council notes that the thermal hydrolysis plant located at Oxley, south of Brisbane, has proven to be difficult to operate and maintain. The main hurdles are the quality (low moisture content) and quantity (large) of biosolids required to make such a facility economically viable.

The option of supplying TSC biosolids as a feedstock for the co-generation plant at the Condong sugar mill was previously investigated. A desk top analysis was carried out and found that TSC does not produce enough biosolids to make an impact. TSC produces approximately 25 wet tonnes of biosolids per day or about 3-4 dry tonnes per day with a 75% volatile component. By comparison, the co-generation plant uses about 750 dry tonnes of feedstock each day during the crushing season.

Biosolids can play an important role as feedstock for bio digesters.

- on farm systems Energy audits have been completed in the past, funded through Dairy Australia.

Biochar can be produced from any organic material such as household green waste, paper waste or agricultural waste. Generation of renewable energy by pyrolysis also requires a well engineered facility. The high


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energy gases such as hydrogen (H2) methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) released can be either converted into thermal energy or electricity. The amount of energy released during the pyrolysis process is again highly dependant upon the biomass feedstock as well as the pyrolysis conditions.1

- off farm waste to energy Low uptake of green harvest due to engineering and economic limitations.

Cane trash use in Condong co-gen plant.

- transport viability restrictions, drying considerations Consider localised bio fermenters/digesters, localised users of energy and a energy transport network that can be either methane gas pipelines

or a local electricity grid. rather than trucking biofuels around the countryside.

Solar:

- leasing rooftops (council, residential)

- solar streetlights and battery systems

Solar panel systems have been considered unsuitable to operate treatment plant or pump station equipment. Increasing the power output from solar to that required by plant and equipment is not been cost effective. (Not yet the reliability of supply is another issue. PV solar needs to be seen in conjunction with other renewable power sources)

They can only be used to power lighting and offices. LED street lighting makes a lot of commercial sense today, BUT: not every product lives up to expectations and meets Australian standards.

Hydro: It is technically feasible for water from Doon Doon Creek to be used to turn two 100kW self-contained turbine generators at Clarrie Hall Dam, potentially producing and feeding 695,000 kilowatt-hours electricity per year into the grid over a 23 week period in an average rainfall year.

However a brief review of the financial implications estimate a payback period of approximately 17 years (assuming no loan funding costs or tax costs) due to:

The capital cost of the project has more than doubled in the last eight years from approx $400k to between $1M - $1.3M.

The income earning potential (from power sales and carbon credits) has increased only marginally, and is estimated at approximately $61,000/annum.

Furthermore, there appears to be significant uncertainty surrounding both the capital cost and income figures as a comprehensive review has not been done, and there is ongoing volatility/uncertainty in the power and carbon markets, and to a lesser extent, currency exchange rates.

(Without feeding into the grid and be subject to the 'market', are there any local users of the power produced by turbines?)

Development controls: requirements for solar hot water and solar energy installed before sale or $ equivalent to purchaser

State Governments BASIX controls do not allow councils to mandate solar, and its all based on a scoring system of comparative energy performance.

This is true, however Councils can encourage developers to design and build energy efficient buildings because they may attract a price premium when bought and sold.

DCP A1 Residential and Tourist Development Code has been revised to encourage passive design measures in the design development and development assessment of new development and alterations and additions. The idea is to get the basic design and layout right in the first

1 http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/304711/biochar-basics.pdf


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place by completing a site analysis for all new housing development.

DCP A9 Energy Smart Homes Policy also promotes passive design.

Condong co-gen plant:

- other sources of biomass?

- Local grid?

- Camphor laurel habitat/management concerns

If land cannot otherwise be used for food production, the best bio fuel is a mix of several bio fuels. There is extensive literature coming out of Europe and the US. The Far North Coast offers a good range of potential fuel sources that can be tapped into. This includes fuel crops that may be grown on marginal lands and wetlands and harvested in a sustainable way.

(additional comments also in response to the NSW North Coast Bioenergy Scoping Study below)

TSC/Local government's role

- bulk purchase

- heat pumps/battery back up (sell on spot market)

- retailer Advice received during investigation of mini-hydro at Clarrie Hall Dam suggests the process, costs and requirements of registering as a licensed electricity retailer are prohibitive for a small organisation.

See also RDA Northern Inland's document 'Becoming an Electricity Retailer' attached separately.

- education (reduce consumption) As of May 2013, over 8000 households have participated in OEH's Home Power Savings Program. Pension card holders are eligible for free in-home power assessments and action plans, and received a range of water and power saving devices.

- facilitator

Tweed Shire Council's energy use

- hybrid fleet

- rooftop audit

Council is currently investing in asset based energy efficiency projects and small scale renewable energy installations as funds allow.

Independent energy audits to AS3598, level 2 or 3, typically pay back on the audit cost within a few weeks or months (by implementing low-hanging-fruits only). Additional cost savings can be made by participating in the NSW Energy Savings Scheme (ESS). The ESS is particularly useful for sites where large energy cost savings are made across a range of activities OR in the case of pure lighting upgrades.

LED technology has now reached a stage where even high power sports lighting can be covered with LED technology at reasonable costs, provided the facility is utilised sufficient hours per year to achieve a reasonable payback.

Net meters are in place where small scale PV systems have been installed. In the absence of a feed-in tariff, matching the load profile of the site with the production profile of the PV solar system becomes crucial for a good return on investment. Load profiling can help with establishing this match or mismatch.

Power correction factors are being investigated as cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. Voltage optimisation may help in some situations as well. LED lighting trials are underway.

Best practice around the world Tube digesters for small scale digesters (see more info below).


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Local facilities

Condong co-generation facility Generation capacity Condong Cogeneration Plant, when operating, can provide up to 50% of Tweed Valley electricity.

Terranora Incoming Electricity KW - 2012

A return to normal sugar cane crop and increased availability of other sources of relatively cheap biomass fuel will enable renewable energy production from Condong for a longer period each year. 50% renewable electricity for the Tweed Valley on an annual basis is quite realistic. With additional residential & commercial energy efficiency measures, we could achieve better than this.

Biomass can be viewed as a sensible way to locally store solar energy (via photosynthesis) until needed. There are few other renewable energy sources that can achieve this.

Boral

Boral has investigated:

A 800kWe solar farm. The installation of a 160kWe CoGen turbine at Murwillumbah. Change from MH lumiere to alternatives such as Induction and LED for highbay and external flood lighting. Changes to shift structure and operations to avoid peak electricity price periods. 6am - 9am and 4pm -

7pm Alternate uses for woody fibre residues - BioChar, Activated Carbon, Ethanol.

What Boral has found:

Power generation back to the grid is not cost effective (for Boral) There is limited ability to avoid the grid to avoid line charges (net sum gain to the community anyway). In tight economic times, "Green" is one of the first casualties.


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Recent documents

NSW North Coast Bioenergy Scoping Study 2013 http://www.rdanorthernrivers.org.au/index.php?row=2734&field=05_FileList_document

Prepared by the Institute For Sustainable Futures for Sustain Northern Rivers

Council officers were asked to review the Scoping Study and consider the key themes raised by the report.


Condong:

"co-locate a facility that has a demand for heat"

- Zoning constraints and prime agriculture land classifications

- Dept of Trade & Investment Regional Industries Investment Fund potential.

An important benefit of the Condong co-generation plant is that when it is operating, it reuses treated sewage treatment plant effluent (reclaimed water). Typically, about 40% of Councils total reuse is attributed to the Condong plant. At full output, the Condong Plant consumes about 2.5 ML per hour. There is a significant environmental benefit for the Rous river with this.

- local timber industry to provide wood waste feedstock

e.g. Boral, Uki sawmill

- No known major wood waste producing industries in the Tweed

- piggeries Only one small piggery in Tweed Shire.

- green harvesting in the cane industry

Green harvest is unlikely to occur due to the growth pattern of cane in N NSW. Trash is normally removed from cane fields to increase soil warmth and encourage shooting (or re-shooting) of the cane. The trash has proven to be problematic and costly to harvest and transport even with the redesigned larger capacity 'bins'. Also, the Mill is yet to install a trash separation plant and at present, the income available from cogeneration plant owners is not sufficient to cover all costs associated with trash supply.

Some farmers bail the trash and sell it.

Camphor laurel harvest This source of feed for bio-generation is highly constrained from an environmental perspective and unless the $ return for camphor chip/tonne is increased it is unlikely to attract additional contractors. Until the Cogeneration plant owner moves beyond receivership it will only operate during the 'crush' and not all year round. Gearing up to handle all year round production will require increased supply of camphor chip in the off season.

Only two operators are engaged by the cogeneration plant owner currently, alternative income streams required, as $/tonne paid is not self sustaining. The contractors do not operate outside the 'crush' season.

Transport and harvest costs for fuel and machinery are very high, particularly where the chip source is located at a distance (probably greater than 15km) from the Mill.

Voluntary Harvest Code is not being met so future harvest operations are likely to require a DA from Council which will add further to costs.

There is considerable community opposition to harvesting particularly from land holders in the vicinity of any harvest operation. Proactive liaison will be required to convince neighbours of any potential advantages.

Camphor often provides habitat for threatened species and these would need to be assessed prior to harvest and protection provided during any harvest operation.

The harvest process also has the potential to pollute streams, generate dust and


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noise and impact on the local roads network hence the need to follow the DA path so that conditions can be imposed and compliance enforced.

Stumps need to be poisoned after harvest to meet Noxious Weed Act requirements. Poisoning is currently the responsibility of the land owner. Camphor may be de-declared as Noxious, which may not have any impact on harvesting.

Maintenance to manage camphor regrowth/seedling emergence continue for many years for landholders.

Difficult to estimate the volume of material that remains in Tweed. Much of the Camphor is located on slopes, roadsides and highly fertile soils adjacent to riparian areas which would require careful harvest over time in conjunction with bushland restoration or pasture re-establishment works practices that do not fit with established timber harvesting practices.

State Forests Study in 2000 indicates:

Tweed/Byron Economic camphor resource area (dominant & co-dominant) = 7,000 ha;

Approximate average yield 350 t/ha; Total potential camphor available 2.5 million tonnes Tweed/Byron split = approx. 50:50

Post script: Experience from past camphor laurel harvesting operations indicate that the available resource is much more limited than implied by the State Forest 2000 report. This is because camphor laurel is most commonly found on steep or otherwise inaccessible land, along roadsides and creek banks where harvesting is operationally difficult, in conjunction with threatened species, or close to residential and/or rural residential land where amenity issues are common. Harvesting operations are also limited by travel distance from the mill, minimum viable economic yield and the extent of environmental mitigation and repair which is inevitably more costly in environmentally sensitive sites.

Many camphor trees appear to be small diameter, often in dense even-aged stands, there are few old growth trees or mature forests. Essentially the species has invaded and spread randomly across the Shire and has not been planted or managed using silviculture techniques with harvest in mind.

Future increases in value for electricity from the Condong Plant (currently approximately 9 cents per kWh in total) may allow cogeneration plant owners or camphor contractors to pay landowners for several years of weed control, eg during re-establishment of native species, and may make camphor a viable fuel source.

Coppice plantings Not being undertaken to our knowledge

Energy plantations None to our knowledge, majority of plantations are for timber production, these are struggling financially and not able to meet best practice management re: pruning, thinning and weed control.

Municipal solid waste Tweed Shire Council has engaged a consultancy to analyse available domestic waste feedstocks and technology matches in the Northern Rivers. The feasibility assessment will look at all technology options, not just energy from waste, landfill gas harvest or pyrolysis. Findings of that report will be available to any subsequent detailed investigation into renewable energy.


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Findings from the 2012 Clean Energy Australia Report http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/cec/resourcecentre/reports/cleanenergyaustralia

A record 13.14 per cent of Australias electricity generation was produced by renewable sources of energy in the 2012 calendar year

There was enough electricity generated by renewable sources during this period to power the equivalent of more than 4 million Australian homes2

More than $4.2 billion was invested in renewable energy and energy smart technologies in 2012

The renewable energy industry employed approximately 24,300 people at the beginning of 2013

The price of electricity continues to be a concern and approximately 90 per cent of people took some kind of action to reduce their power bills in 2012

Hydro continues to contribute the largest share of the countrys renewable energy generation (58 per cent) but wind power (26 per cent) and solar power (8 per cent) are making significant inroads

Regional State of the Environment report http://www.northern.cma.nsw.gov.au/downloads/Project_Pages/regional-soe/regional-state-of-the-environment-2012-report.pdf

High levels of renewable energy are generated locally and fed back into the grid.

Sustain Energy Skills Report http://www.rdanorthernrivers.org.au/index.php?row=2486&field=05_FileList_document

This research report has been commissioned to inform the development of the Regional Skilling for Change Implementation Program for the North Coast. The program will address the provision of current and future skills required to achieve a sustainable energy future, and is part of a broader Energy Action Plan developed by Sustain Northern Rivers (SNR) for the North Coast. SNR is a collaboration of peak government, educational, commercial and community bodies working together to improve the sustainability and resilience of the Northern Rivers Region.

Selected recommendations include: Priority given:

Develop a bioenergy strategy for the North Coast, bringing together a range of relevant stakeholders.

Medium

Develop a smart energy strategy, bringing together a broad range of relevant stakeholders, and liaise with NBN Co to ensure the NBN roll out and skills strategy is complementary.

High

Expand the number of energy assessors in the North Coast who have a comprehensive skill set, by liaising with relevant skills councils to develop a new qualification that covers energy efficiency and a broad range of renewable energy technologies.

High

2 Based on average household electricity consumption of 7.1 MWh per year


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Selected recommendations include: Priority given:

Target training to meet the needs (and demand) generated by the introduction of mandatory disclosure of building energy performance.

Medium

Ensure at least one North Coast energy stakeholder (in addition to the network provider) has expertise in medium to large scale renewable energy grid connection.

High

Ensure continued professional development that provides skills in regional planning for a sustainable energy future and sustainable building is available to planners, perhaps delivered in-house at local Councils.

Medium

Develop a sustainable energy community engagement strategy to boost energy literacy. High

Develop a training promotion strategy to increase workforce awareness of career paths, targeted to specific skills gaps

Medium

Continue SNRs collaborative approach, prioritise development of the Energy Action Plan High

'Energy from Waste' state government draft policy framework The NSW Energy from Waste Policy Statement provides the policy framework and overarching criteria that apply to facilities in NSW proposing to thermally treat waste for the recovery of energy in order to provide regulatory clarity to industry and the community.


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Key considerations

System capacity costs About 80% of current retail electricity charges relate to System Capacity & Green (LRET, SRES, ESS) charges.

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Does solar pay? [Extract from Alternative Technology Australia assessment: http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/household/energy-and-water/solar/solar-payback-times/page/payback-times.aspx]

Feed in tariff Payback period - 30% export Payback period - 50% export

8.0 c/kWh (net) 6 to 7 years 8 to 9 years

Assumes a system size of 2.0 kW, a system cost (fully installed, before payment for STCs) of $4400. The STC price is $30. The electricity export rates for net feed-in jurisdictions assume households export 30% and 50% of the electricity

they produce;

The system degradation rate is 0.5% per annum with 20% generation losses and inverter replacement (after 15 years) costing $800.

The annual increase in retail electricity price is assumed to be 0.25% (equivalent to 6.4% increase over 25 years). The opportunity cost of money that could have been invested instead is 5%. Annual generation for the two locations within each state are calculated using the following formula: Annual

generation [MWh] = System Size [kW] x PSH x 365 x (100% Generation Losses) / 1000 (Where: Generation Losses was

20%) Exporting solar generated energy is the least preferred option. Ideally, all generated power is consumed on-site (in the absence of a legislated and significant feed-in tariff).

Local solar industry and maintenance concerns [Pers. comm. S. Welling, Sunbeam Solar Systems http://www.sunbeamsolar.com.au/]

The cost of solar is about as low as it will go. There is little margin in the current cost of solar to allow the local solar industry to provide an adequate customer service model. The installation of low quality componentry, particularly poor performing inverters, and the dissolution of the company that installed them has created a service burden for the local industry. This does not endear customers to the technology and providers.

Currently more than 145,000 PV customers receive a subsidised feed-in tariff of either 20 or 60 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh) under the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme3.Once the Solar Bonus Scheme ends on 31 December 2016, customers will start feeling the pinch of their grid use energy, and that's the time when energy efficiency and storage initiatives will become attractive.

Storage

The case for storage [From Clean Energy Council Energy Storage Study 2013 http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/dms/cec/reports/2013/Energy-Storage-Study/Energy%20Storage%20Study.pdf]

The price of energy storage has fallen slowly but steadily in recent years, to a point where a storage system of meaningful capacity could conceivably be purchased for household use as long as the purchaser was motivated by non-economic motives, and did not expect a reasonable financial return on their investment.

This situation for storage today is comparable to that of solar PV in the mid 1990s, when the technology was expensive, the electricity it supplanted was cheap, and it was therefore attractive only to a small, committed coterie of leading-edge adopters.

Short-term energy storage is becoming financially attractive. Many suppliers of PV solar are now offering battery backups than can cover night-time hours or even a cloudy day. This trend is set to continue with better battery technology being developed.

3 IPART Solar feed-in tariffs 2013 - 2014 report http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/Home/Industries/Electricity/Reviews/Retail_Pricing/Solar_feed-in_tariffs_2013_to_2014


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Biomass Biomass can be viewed as a sensible way to locally store solar energy (via photosynthesis) until needed. There are few other renewable energy sources that can achieve this.

Other NSW rural areas are investigating large scale farming of biomass crops for cogen or biogas plants. However the Clean Energy Council Biomass Resource Appraisal 20084 suggests "Energy crops that are dedicated for bioenergy alone are likely to be less viable than crops with multiple economic benefits where some tree crops may even be planted to clean up waste water and to rehabilitate polluted land or land with excessive nutrients. Typically, short rotation crops offer much higher yields than long-term tree crops."

4 http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/dms/cec/reports/2008/Biomass-Resource-Appraisal/%20Biomass%20Resource%20Appraisal.pdf


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Batteries There are numerous companies working on storage technologies including Alco Battery Sales, GE, MPower Group, Redflow and Zen Energy Systems.

AGM batteries [James]

Able to store around 16kWhs of generation. Australian made batteries that are tried tested and proven throughout Australia, have a working life of 15-20yrs as long as they are kept in good condition and are constructed with around 90% or recycled lead.

Zinc bromine flow batteries

[Extract from http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/03/26/3462426.htm]

40 houses in Elermore Vale of Newcastle have installed zinc bromine flow batteries, as part of a trial by electricity infrastructure corporation Ausgrid.

Each can store 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity, around what a basic 1.5kW set of solar panels generates on a sunny day. Two tanks hold a solution of zinc and bromine that can be pumped past a stack of plastic electrodes. When the battery is charged, zinc is deposited from the solution and coated onto the negative electrode; while at the positive electrode bromine is produced for storage within a tank. Zinc and bromide ions reform during discharging.

Bruce Ebzery of Redflow, the supplier of the zinc-bromine flow batteries for Elermore Vale, believes his technology holds great promise. Ezbery says there is no theoretical reason for them to be more expensive either. "Zinc and bromine are both common materials that you can buy easily, not rare earths. All the other components are plastics - really just advanced shopping bags," he jokes. Nevertheless, the Redflows installed in Elermore Vale are still impractically expensive for widespread use, costing around $15,000. Asked why, Ebzery invites people to "come and look at our factory in Brisbane. We're making them by hand."

Titanium dioxide offers energy storage hope [Extract from http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/07/01/3792075.htm]

Chemist Yun Liu, an Associate Professor at the Australian National University (ANU), has also discovered that [titanium dioxide] may be useful for building energy storage devices.

According to Liu, the material could be used in safe, solid-state 'supercapacitors' to store enormous amounts of energy, opening the door for innovation in the areas of renewable energy, electric cars, even space and defence technologies.

"We've just developed the materials that have this potential, but we haven't developed practical applications."

"That's the next step of the research for us."

Recent projects

East Lismore Sewage Treatment Plant - Farming the Sun project Farming the Sun aims to establish community-owned solar farms at businesses and community organisations which consume large amounts of electricity all year round.

A feasibility assessment will be conducted on Lismore Council's electricity use at the East Lismore Treatment Plant then Council will sign an agreement to buy the energy generated for the next 10 to 25 years.

The solar farm will produce 80-100kw, the equivalent of powering 30 homes. Investments of between $2300 and $2800 for a 1kw share will be sought from mum and dad investors. Investors are anticipated to receive an annual return of about 6%, or up to $168, he said.


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Sunshine City Council Valdora Solar Farm http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/sitePage.cfm?code=solar-farm

Clean Energy Map http://www.cleanenergymap.gov.au/

Recent events

Federal government announcements about moving to an emissions trading scheme [Extract from http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/cec/mediaevents/media-releases/July-2013/130716-carbon-price-ETS.html]

"But we also need support for new and promising types of clean energy and we are pleased with the government's announcement that funding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will remain unchanged.

"ARENA is supported by both major political parties and will play a critical role in fast-tracking cheaper clean energy, which is what Australians consistently say they want. It provides an important boost for innovative companies and individuals developing new types of clean energy technology such as marine energy, large-scale solar, geothermal, bioenergy and hybrid technology that combines renewables with traditional power plants," he said.

However, [Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green] said it was disappointing to lose funding for the Clean Technology Innovation Program.


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"The Clean Technology Innovation Program has been effective in helping to support businesses to improve their energy efficiency through the installation of solar power systems and other smarter energy solutions," he said.

- See more at: http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/cec/mediaevents/media-releases/July-2013/130716-carbon-price-ETS.html#sthash.jLk5FwKs.dpuf

North Coast Energy Forum [Speak to Paul Cruickshank for an update]

Recent/current programs

OEH's call for Community Renewable Energy Projects Update from Paul Cruickshank

Home Power Savings Program The NSW State Government program consists of a detailed one hour In-Home Power consultation by an Energy Expert. This process identifies energy wastage in the household by entering information told by the householder into a custom built software application which models power use within the home. The application generates specific actions the householder can adopt to save them power and money. The householder is then able to select, and commit to the most relevant and achievable tips for them. During the consultation a power savings kit worth around $200 is installed including items such as an energy efficient shower head and draught proofing.

At 30 June 2013 the Home Power Savings Program has reached in the order of 6,800 low income households in Tweed Shire Council, saving more than 3,500 megawatt hours of electricity and an estimated $1.1 million a year in energy bills.

Federal Home Energy Saver Scheme The Australian Government announced the Home Energy Saver Scheme (HESS), aimed at helping low income households address the issues they have with energy costs and to support them to make better informed choices about their energy use through individual advice and education, home visits, and community education workshops. HESS workers provide one-on-one budgeting assistance, advocacy, and referrals to other services such as energy efficiency and hardship schemes and appropriate financial products such as No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS). In addition there is a 1800 National telephone advice and referral line providing information on energy issues such as billing, appliances, difficulty paying bills and available rebates.

NSW Energy Savings Scheme The ESS is particularly useful for sites where large energy cost savings are made across a range of activities OR in the case of pure lighting upgrades.

International Best Practice

Tube digesters https://s3.amazonaws.com/TWFiles/54462/p68016.546254.1370602505739_InTech-Anaerobic_biogas_generation_for_rural_area_energy_provision_in_africa.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJC7QSMZDSELEZRIQ&Expires=1374206157&Signature=hQWqIDk%2BZvmrqt0AJC%2BGiHOCoUA%3D&response-content-disposition=inline

These reactors are small in size (5-10 m3) and mostly used at household level to deliver the energy demand for household cooking and lighting. The advantages of these reactors are that they are inexpensive compared to sophisticated systems, can be built with locally available material, are easy to handle and do not have moving parts which are prone to failure.

The working principle of these reactors is the same although there are substantial differences between them. The substrate enters through the inlet pipe into the digester tank where the substrate has an average retention time of 10-30 days. The biogas is collected above the slurry and leaves the tank through a gas pipe into the top cover.


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However, these digesters have several limitations. Each of the digester type does not have facilities for mixing the slurry or for maintaining a certain temperature in the digester and controlling it. There are also no facilities to remove sand, stones and other non-digestible materials, which will over the years, accumulate and decrease the volume of the digester and hence will reduce its efficiency. The accumulation of inert and non-degradable material makes it necessary to stop the process from time to time and remove the materials, thereby increasing labour and maintenance cost of the technology.

Small scale farm-based bioenergy facilities [Extract from Clean Energy Council Biomass Resource Appraisal 2008 http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/dms/cec/reports/2008/Biomass-Resource-Appraisal/%20Biomass%20Resource%20Appraisal.pdf]

In Germany a feed-in tariff scheme for small-scale renewable energy generation facilities has been in operation for some years and most recently amended and upgraded in 2004.5This scheme has been remarkably successful, supporting the development of bioenergy facilities with net output of 23.8 TWh per annum (3.9% of total gross electricity consumption in Germany). The scheme has also created a vibrant small-scale renewable energy project development and services industry with annual construction turnover exceeding EUR 2.8 billion, employing over 90,000 people, with significant growing export potential to other European, North American and Asian markets.

Potential funding sources

Clean Energy Finance Corporation The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) was established by the Federal Government in 2012 to provide loans for promising clean energy proponents using funding raised by the carbon price. The $10 billion CEFC is designed to help bridge the gap between early-stage research and commercial maturity. By helping to share the risk of investing in these pre-commercial technologies, it is anticipated that the CEFC will help unlock sources of private sector capital. The organisation will begin issuing loans in July 2013.

Low Carbon Australia Limited, a government-appointed organisation that provides financial assistance to Australian businesses to promote energy efficiency and other carbon reductions, will merge with the CEFC in 2013.

ARENA The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is an independent statutory authority established on 1 July 2012. ARENA will provide more than $3 billion of grants and financing assistance to promote research and development, demonstration, commercialisation and deployment of emerging renewable energy projects.

A variety of programs previously managed by the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the Australian Solar Institute have been moved across to ARENA.

Clean Technology Program The $1.2 billion Clean Technology Program provides incentives for manufacturing businesses to reduce emissions and invest in clean energy, as well as for innovative businesses in all sectors to develop new clean technologies and services.

It has three components the $200 million Clean Technology Innovation Program [funding cuts announced in recent Government announcements], the $800 million Clean Technology Investment Program, and the Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program. These programs provide grants to support research and development, proof-of-concept and early-stage commercialisation in renewable energy, low-pollution technology and energy efficiency.

5 Development of renewable energies in 2006 in Germany, 2007: http://www.bmu.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/hintergrund_zahlen2006_eng.pdf ii) EEG The Renewable Energy Sources Act, 2007: http://www.invest-in-germany.com/uploads/media/EEG_Brochure_01.pdf

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