Let the Sun Shine In  

BusinessWeek has an excellent article noting that we waste far too much energy and could dramatically cut our use by "removing some links from the energy chain".

Sometimes the best solutions to the energy crisis are the simplest, and often they're right in front of our eyes. Consider the use of solar power to light a home. Even the most advanced photovoltaic solar panels convert just 20% of the available sunlight to electricity. The resulting direct current (DC) then must undergo conversion to alternating current (AC), losing another 20%. If that AC goes on to light an incandescent bulb, which is only 5% efficient, you end up using a fraction of 1% of the original sunlight as room light. (Even switching to compact florescent bulbs, which are 15% efficient, makes little difference in overall energy efficiency.) But if you were to simply leave sunlight as light—via proper skylights, window orientation, and louvers—nearly 80% of the light ends up as illumination.

Or take the multiple conversions required to produce alternative biofuels. The efficiency of converting sunlight into plants such as corn and switch grass and then into ethanol or biodiesel is one-tenth of 1%, or less. Algae looks like it will perform slightly better, but at these rates, why bother? The best way to convert plants to energy, frankly, is to eat them.

How to Cut Down on Conversions

The more links we put in the energy conversion chain, the greater the losses and the more improbable and inappropriate the solution. We need, wherever possible, to keep light as light and heat as heat and food as food. And as much as we enjoy endlessly debating which approach to take, the best solutions may very well be those closest to home.

Fortunately, a number of such straightforward solutions are emerging.

We could begin by siting new buildings for optimal exposure to sunlight and properly designing them to best capture daylight via skylights and windows. Though still a rarity in the U.S., such design practice has become much more common in Europe. With proper insulation, such structures also require very little energy to heat. ...

Even if you can't avoid mulitiple conversions entirely, there are ways to minimize the number of conversions. For example, we could also find more opportunities to break the DC/AC conversion cycle. Refrigerators and other appliances that operate on DC are becoming available and, with the certain arrival of economical LED lighting, which operates on DC, direct DC solar-power-to-DC-end-use shortly will become much more practical.

Community-Based Solutions

Of course, many such innovations lend themselves best to new structures. But even older homes in shady neighborhoods, where solar power is impractical, could reduce their energy consumption through more efficient, community-based solutions. We could put solar thermal collectors in open parks or even in the hot tar of streets, then distribute the hot water via pipes to the surrounding neighborhood. Heat would stay heat.

As some European towns already do, we could build community windmills and distribute energy locally, avoiding the energy losses associated with high-voltage transmission lines. Both solar and wind energy-collection systems operate most efficiently on a slightly larger scale than that used by individual homes. (Such off-the-grid, locally based energy solutions offer the added advantage of making communities less vulnerable to terrorist attacks on centralized power networks.)

Keep Plugging at the Electric Car

Applying the doctrine of minimizing energy conversions to automobiles is more problematic, but still doable. Going from sunlight to biofuels to mechanical engines to hybrid electric is a non-starter. ... Battery-operated cars are just a factor of two or three away from attaining the range and horsepower required to become popular with consumers. By substituting lightweight composite materials for steel and by installing the latest-generation electric motors, we could effectively close the gap. All are readily available. Then it would just be a matter of plugging our car into solar-generated power and we'd be off, as it were, to the races.

With rare exceptions, energy security and an improved environment don't generally require startling leaps in new technology. Nor do they require massive deprivation through conservation or insurmountable acts of political will. They do require, however, a clear focus on what works most simply and directly. Fewer energy conversions should become our watchword, whether we're government policymakers or whether we're investors.

If we were to apply that principle more broadly, we could make a huge difference in the U.S.'s energy consumption. Avoiding unnecessary conversions alone would enable us to cut energy use by as much as 30% in 10 years and eliminate our dependence on uncertain petroleum imports. Sometimes you can actually do more by doing less.

JCWinnie at After Gutenberg has some comments on Steve Gloor's "Nullarbor Solar Project" (really a transmission project with lots of clean energy projects plugged into it) concept.

Steve Gloor proposes SMES (Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage) as a means to deal with the intermittent nature of solar energy. It is something that the Big Gav previously has mentioned and it is a very big deal, especially from the perspective of an engineering challenge. Thomas Edison would be so proud.

Edison, as AG readers are sure to know, advocated for the use of DC (Direct Current) networks. Nearly a 100 years ago, he lost the argument, so that electric power is distributed through networks that use AC (Alternating Current). As previously noted by this blog, the idea of localized DC networks has come around again, especially in Europe where wind and solar contribute a larger share to the total electric power consumed that elsewhere in the world.

Gloor provides a strong economic argument for combining HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) transmission because of the distance to be covered to distribute the power across Australia and the losses associated with distributing AC power over sich distances. He puts forward an alternative to the building of more nuclear power stations: HVDC + SMES.

Unfortunately, the general perception by those setting energy policy is that nuclear power is the cheapest way to provide base power. (And, if you ignore the nuclear waste problem, it is.) And, HVDC + SMES is unproven in terms of the scale of application that Gloor is proposing. So, the fact that it could a fact of 10 less in cost is unappreciated, as well as the other advantages. Using renewable energy is cleaner, safer, and lacks the cooling requirements of nuclear power.

JCW also points to one of his old posts on localised DC current networks and a commenter links to TerraWatts.com, which looks at the move towards the global energy grid and has a regularly updated set of links to news on renewable energy. Here are some quotes fromf the DC transmission post:

Along the lines of an earlier post on this blog about grid optimization, WattHead1 tells us about plans to create a pan-European energy grid. This so-called 'Supergrid' would be undersea linking of European offshore wind farms.

Ireland-based Airtricity is proposing to "link a series of wind farms from as far ranging locations as the Mediterranean, up to the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic and all the way up to the North Sea and Baltic Sea." The linkage would be by means of integrated HVDC (High-Voltage, Direct Current) electric power transmission systems. Swedish transnational company ABB Ltd. says that such a supergrid is now possible. ...

HVDC Light

RenewableEnergyAccess2 reports that an advanced transmission technology called 'HVDC Light' can connect and integrate high-voltage, direct current electric power transmission systems. Jennifer Pallanich Hull3 provides more information about HVDC Light, which first was implemented for off-shore drilling platforms in 2004.

Off-shore operations depend either upon power generated on site or power transmission. The omission of onsite generation not only can lower offshore platform maintenance costs, but also by receiving less polluting electric power such installations can eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. Since oil companies are taxed for CO2 emissions associated with production the use of less polluting power translates to significant cost savings.

While the article focused on wind energy, an HVDC electric power system just as easily could incorporate other renewable energy sources, e.g., solar and wave. On May 12, 2006 Julian Pearson commented that the proposed supergrid would fit in very well with another proposal. Studies for the German Government suggest that CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) could be produced in the Middle East and North Africa and transmitted not only to those regions but also to the whole of Europe.

Mega Projects in North America

In the WattHead post, Jesse Jenkins also noted that such projects are not limited to the European Union. Jenkins and others "envision renewable energy megaprojects that could be constructued in the U.S. that would rival Airtricity's plan in scale." For instance, this year the Leighty Foundation proposed a series of gigawatt-scale wind farms in the Dakotas with electricity transmitted via HVDC to Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, etc.

Other potential renewable megaprojects that would require the vision and national (or transnation) committment that Aitricity's plans would take include:
Large-scale solar farms in the Desert Southwest;
Gigawatt-scale offshore wind farms in the north-south axis of Lake Michigan and the east-west axis of Lake Superior;
Similar scale wind projects (and maybe wave farms) off the west coast of southern Oregon and northern California;
Massive wind farms in the Aleutian Island chain (probably the windiest spot on earth with Class 7 winds over much of the archepelego) making hydrogen for shipment to the continental U.S. via pipeline or LH2 tankers
Ocean current turbines teathered in the middle of the Gulf Stream (basically a massive undersea river of seawater)
Those are the kind of megaprojects that immediately come to mind. Each one could provide a major contribution to the national energy mix and could even come to dominate regional energy mixes.

Expert Systems

Such interconnected electricity system mega projects require controlling dynamic behavior. Generation and demand must be kept in balance over large regions to ensure that voltage and frequency are maintained. As previously noted, if either voltage or frequency strays too far from narrow prescribed limits, the resulting stress to power system equipment could be severe and result in expensive damage, not to mention the consequences if there are blackouts. Such new projects would need to integrate with existing protective overlays that minimize damage and ensure that power can be restored rapidly when problems arise.

HVDC has an advantage; according to Wikipedia; it can prevent "cascading failures from propagating from one part of a wider power transmission grid to another, whilst still allowing power to be imported or exported in the event of smaller failures" and is one important reason for why wider use of HVDC technology is under consideration.

Nevertheless, if such mega projects that seem to deliver better value are to receive national and international approval, then they require substantial collaboration between such interconnected electricity system, especially at a data transmission level.

Renewable Energy Access has an article on harvesting the power of ocean energyy. The device they talk about it actually a combination wind turbine and water turbine, which is quite a neat way of reducing the dreaded (by those in the grip of the baseload fallacy) curse of "intermittency".

A small team of engineers based in Cornwall, England, have made a breakthrough with the development of a turbine that they claim could solve the commercial viability of tidal power. Known as the Osprey turbine, the technology can be used to create electricity offshore at sea -- or in tidal rivers and inland waterways.

The Osprey turbine is a vertical axis free flow device which produces power independently or as part of a larger system. Power output is expected to be from 1 kW up to 5 MW in a multiple system. It is the brainchild of Fowey-based FreeFlow 69 Ltd., research and development consultants in renewable energy, which is headed up by Pat Cooke.

The team conceived the unique turbine concept while working on design and development for their offshore Ocean Hydro Electricity Generator (OHEG), a concept using tidal energy to create electricity 24 hours a day. Following successful testing of a model rotor, a reduced-scale model prototype has been developed to assist in the design of a full-scale prototype.

"There is still some way to go before the Osprey is fully commissioned and starts to generate electricity for the national grid," said Cooke. "But if, as we envisage it will, the Osprey performs successfully, it could play a key role in providing a simple 24-7 green power system—possibly in conjunction with a simplified version of our original OHEG concept." ...

A prototype for an Archimedes screw type version turbine will also be produced for rivers where a weir or leat is available, such as old mill sites. Able Engineering will manufacture the river turbines and take on the project management of the larger river systems, while FreeFlow 69 will act as developer for the larger offshore systems. ...

"It is estimated by the Carbon Trust that wave and tidal power can provide a fifth of the UK's electricity needs," he said. "The benefits of ramping up investment in tidal power generation would be considerable, providing not only a reliable source of energy, but the opportunity for Britain to be at the forefront of the global market in the same way that Danish companies took an early lead in the wind turbine industry."

Tyler Hamilton at Clean Break also has a post on ocean energy from a Canadian point of view.

My Clean Break column this week is more or less a snapshot of what's going on with ocean-energy development in Canada, with particular emphasis on wave and tidal projects. While you don't hear much about these renewable energy systems, at least relative to wind and solar projects, it's a good bet that there will be rising interest in ocean energy projects over the coming years. There are dozens of projects underway in Canada and the United States, and a recent decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to streamline the process for getting pilot project licenses -- that is, from five years to as little as six months -- indicates that regulators are finally seeing the potential of this technology and want to reduce barriers to its implementation. Canada is the third-most active developer of ocean-energy technologies, and has the potential to use tidal and wave power to produce up to a quarter of its electricity. As some of these pilot projects get going, it will be interesting to see if ocean energy technologies jump on the same growth curve as we've seen for wind and solar -- not just in Canada but around the globe. Some of the Canadian companies in this space include Finavera Renewables, Blue Energy Canada, Clean Current Power and New Energy Corp.

From Tyler's article in the Toronto Star (the suggestion that Australia should couple ocean energy plants with desalination plants is an interesting one):

Canada's two coasts and Nunavut have the potential to generate more than 150 terawatt-hours of clean electricity a year using ocean or tidal power systems. This represents about a quarter of the country's annual electricity consumption, and the power would be predictable and constant – unlike wind and solar. "Canada has the opportunity to be a leader in the long run on harnessing this vast renewable resource in a cost-effective, reliable way," according to Gouri Bhuyan, director of civil infrastructure and alternative energy technologies at Surrey, B.C.-based Powertech Labs Inc.

The question is whether we are taking advantage of this opportunity. On the surface it appears we're not, but behind the scenes there is activity going on. It may be a surprise to learn that Canada is the world's third-most active developer of ocean-energy technologies, behind only the United States and the United Kingdom.

We joined the International Energy Agency's "Implementing Agreement" on ocean energy systems back in 2003 to promote research, development and demonstration of such technologies. The countries in the group have a goal of seeing cost-competitive tidal and wave systems enter the market by 2020.

We're also one of the first to have a working commercial ocean-energy power plant. A 20-megawatt tidal plant was built in 1984 at Annapolis Royal by the Bay of Fundy. But since then the projects have been small and experimental – mostly demonstration projects, like the Race Rock tidal current system off of Vancouver Island. There are currently about 10 of these smaller tidal and wave projects spread out between our west and east coasts, some of them funded by Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Canadian companies focused on the technology include Finavera Renewables, Blue Energy Canada, Clean Current Power, and New Energy Corp., and most are members of the Ocean Renewable Energy Group, which is a collaboration of industry, academia and government.

To help assist the development of new projects, Natural Resources Canada has created an ocean-energy atlas that quantifies and maps the best places in the country to establish tidal and wave systems.

The opportunities, however, aren't confined to Canada. The United States is beginning to wake up to the potential of ocean energy, and established energy companies such as oil giant Chevron Corp. are even getting into the game. To help kick-start new projects, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced last week it would speed up the licensing process for new ocean-energy pilot projects – down to six months from what can often take five years. It reportedly has more than 50 licence applications pending.

We also have to remember that ocean energy is more than simply about generating renewable, emission-free electricity. It could also play a significant role in dealing with a coming global water crisis. What's the connection? Desalination technologies that take salt out of ocean water will increasingly be relied on to address water scarcity problems around the world. Ocean-energy power plants can play a strategic, complementary role. By definition they have access to an endless supply of salt water as well as the electricity needed to turn that water into a drinkable product.

Drought-stricken Australia is serious about taking this path, as are a number of other coastal countries concerned about their long-term supply of water, including the United States. Clearly, future demand could be immense and the economic opportunities for Canadian companies equally massive.

AP has an article on geothermal energy called " Energy search goes underground".

BASEL, Switzerland - When tremors started cracking walls and bathroom tiles in this Swiss city on the Rhine, the engineers knew they had a problem. "The glass vases on the shelf rattled, and there was a loud bang," Catherine Wueest, a teashop owner, recalls. "I thought a truck had crashed into the building."

But the 3.4 magnitude tremor on the evening of Dec. 8 was no ordinary act of nature: It had been accidentally triggered by engineers drilling deep into the Earth's crust to tap its inner heat and thus break new ground — literally — in the world's search for new sources of energy. Basel was wrecked by an earthquake in 1365, and no tremor, man-made or other, is to be taken lightly. After more, slightly smaller tremors followed, Basel authorities told Geopower Basel to put its project on hold.

But the power company hasn't given up. It's in a race with a firm in Australia to be the first to generate power commercially by boiling water on the rocks three miles underground. On paper, the Basel project looks fairly straightforward: Drill down, shoot cold water into the shaft and bring it up again superheated and capable of generating enough power through a steam turbine to meet the electricity needs of 10,000 households, and heat 2,700 homes.

Scientists say this geothermal energy, clean, quiet and virtually inexhaustible, could fill the world's annual needs 250,000 times over with nearly zero impact on the climate or the environment.

A study released this year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said if 40 percent of the heat under the United States could be tapped, it would meet demand 56,000 times over. It said an investment of $800 million to $1 billion could produce more than 100 gigawatts of electricity by 2050, equaling the combined output of all 104 nuclear power plants in the U.S. "The resource base for geothermal is enormous," Professor Jefferson Tester, the study's lead author, told The Associated Press. ...

In Basel, the first shaft was bored last year by a 190-foot-tall drilling rig towering above nearby apartment buildings. Water was pumped down the injection well in the test phase in December, and as expected, it heated to above 390 F as it seeped through the layers of rock below. But that's where the water remains for the time being; it caused the rock layers to slip, causing the tremors and rumbles that spooked the townspeople.

Geopower Basel, had forecast some rock slippage. In fact, it said the location on top of a fault line — the upper Rhine trench — was an advantage because it meant the heat was closer to the Earth's surface. But with $51 million already spent, drilling stopped and the official launch date was moved back from 2009 to 2012.

Still to be drilled are the two wells that would suck the pressurized, superheated water out of the cracks and up to the surface to create steam for driving a turbine and generating electricity. The water, having cooled to around 340 degrees, would heat hospitals, public buildings and homes before being pumped back into the ground for another waste-free, gas-free cycle.

The rival project near the southern Australian town of Innamincka faces more benign geological conditions and less population. Its target date for operations is now two years ahead of Basel's, aiming to produce 40 megawatts of electricity by the end of 2010, enough to supply over 30,000 households.

Experts say hot rock geothermal energy can operate 24 hours a day and doesn't depend on sun or wind. But it's decades away from serious rivalry with existing energy sources. Susan Petty, one of the 18 co-authors of the MIT study, works for Black Mountain Technology, a company promoting hot rock energy. She predicts that 10 percent of the world's power could come from geothermal sources in the next 50 years, from the current 0.3 percent, rising to half in around 100 years.

The Australian has a report about Shell manouevring to be included in Inpex's LNG development at Ichtys, in the Browse bason offshore WA. The Australian also has an article about Woodside's Pluto LNG development, doing a little fear mongering about Labor party industrial policy.

Shell and Japanese group Inpex are expected to open discussion soon on possible options for the future of the giant Ichthys gas reservoir in the Browse Basin. The discussions will follow results from two deepwater wells, Prelude and Toccata, which Shell has drilled into the Ichthys reservoir off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

In 2005, the Australian Government shocked Inpex by refusing to grant it a permit next-door to Ichthys in permit WA-285-P, which is officially reported to contain 10 trillion cubic feet of gas but speculated to contain substantially more. INPEX subsequently partnered with the French Total group to plan an export LNG project based on the Ichthys reserves.

Shell won the bid for the adjacent acreage, WA-371-P, from seven other contenders, with a work program costed at $148 million including 12 wells. The drilling program has been intense, with about half the wells already drilled and the rest expected to be completed by early next year. Shell's aim in bidding so high for the acreage was to satisfy the re-emergence of strong growth in Asia-Pacific LNG demand. The company said WA-371-P could be a significant contributor to the supply of LNG to the Asia-Pacific market. The results of the latest deep well, Toccata, on which the Ocean Epoch began drilling on June 8, are now being analysed. If they are similar to the Prelude well, Shell will be able to confirm the expected: WA-371-P contains an extension of Ichthys.

Shell chief executive Jeroen van der Veer set the hares running late last month when he claimed "material success" for two wells in Australia. One is Persephone, drilled by Woodside in permit WA-1-L, immediately east of the North Rankin gas field, which has added over 100 billion cubic feet to Woodside's proved and probable reserves. The other is presumably Prelude, though it was not identified as such by Mr van der Veer. ...

Shell estimates it holds a gas resource base of 20 trillion cubic feet of discovered gas resources in Australian waters or about 15 per cent of the national total. The Browse Basin is currently one of the most active exploration areas in the world, with Woodside, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron and Shell all running exploration programs.

The Inpex/Total joint venture's Ichthys field lies in about 250 metres of water. Several wells have already been drilling, including Brewster-1, the discovery well drilled by Woodside in 1981. Inpex has chosen the Maret Islands off the Kimberley coast and 200 kilometres from the field as the location for a 3.8 million tonnes a year, two production train LNG plants, storage tanks, offloading jetty and other facilities. Inpexhas said it expects to make a final investment decision on Ichthys by the end of next year.

More from The Australian (who have a good business news section even if their political and foreign news sections never fail to (1) trigger my fear / hate reflex towards whoever they are demonising and (2) trigger subsequent feelings of intense annoyance about still falling for their toxic propaganda masquerading as information after 30 years of reading it), this time about the "new cold war" and the race for the north pole's energy reserves. As with our relations with the middle east, the overriding factor in the deterioration of relations with Russia is our addicition to fossil fuels, and the cure remains the same - ditch our dependency on oil, coal and natural gas. As an added benefit, if we do manage to knock the fossil fuel gorilla off our backs, the Arctic may remain frozen.

THE next cold war has started and this one will be frozen.

The great shipbuilders are poring over designs for ice-breaking supertankers. Canada is spending billions on gunboats. Last week, Russia planted its flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole. The battle for the mineral treasures of the Arctic will not only last for decades, it will be fought in temperatures below -40C, amid bone-chilling blizzards and unrelieved darkness.

The submarine stunt by Russian explorers intent on staking Moscow's Arctic claim has provided a jolt of urgency to international efforts to protect and administer what one US admiral described as "the last great unexplored bastion on Earth". The political powers of the northern hemisphere are suddenly facing tense negotiations over who gets what in an oil- and gas-rich polar territory.

Three kilometres under the Pole, Artur Chilingarov, a Russian explorer and politician, dropped a rustproof titanium flag from the hold of a mini-submarine to prove that while Moscow lost the space race, it is determined to win the ice race. At stake in this outbreak of polar posturing is not just patriotic pride, but access to what geologists believe are a quarter of the globe's oil and gas reserves -- in short, the solution to the crippling energy shortages that will begin throttling economies within the next two decades.

A combination of global warming -- causing the Arctic ice cap to melt -- and developing extraction technologies is unlocking the door to hydrocarbon deposits that had seemed inaccessible. Scientists believe climate change may open up a key Arctic shipping route -- the fabled Northwest Passage linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans -- to routine maritime traffic by 2050.

"Experts say after 2016, oil production will drop tremendously," said Anatoly Opekunov, of Russia's Research Institute for Ocean Geology and Mineral Resources. "Every country, including Russia and the US, is thinking about this." ...

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last month plans to spend $8billion on at least six ice-breaking patrol ships to maintain Canada's claim to the passage. Harper's Foreign Minister, Peter MacKay, denounced the Russian stunt last week. "This isn't the 15th century," he said. "You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say, 'we're claiming this territory'." Yet Eric Posner, professor of law at the University of Chicago, concluded that the small print of international maritime agreements was likely to prove irrelevant in the Arctic. "Power, not international law, will settle the issue," he said. "Russia's expression of power is credible; Canada's is not."

At stake are an estimated 500billion barrels of oil, incalculable volumes of natural gas and potential deposits of diamonds, platinum, nickel, tin and gold. US scientists have long been aware of the Arctic's mineral potential, but fierce opposition in Washington has hampered exploitation. The Americans have also been slow to grasp the implications of climate change and several officials complained last week that Putin had seized the strategic initiative. A report by the US Centre for Naval Analyses described global warming as a "serious threat" to US security that should become a military priority.

I read a bizarre article about the latest "Harry Potter" book last Friday in The Australian promoting the idea that it taught children of the need to act (vaguely hinting that this supported the "war on terror") unlike their sissy parents who just sit around twiddling their thumbs. Given that the previous reference I'd seen to the book was one on Energy Bulletin which called the book "subversive" because it told children to think, I found myself spending a chunk of the weekend reading it so I could see which version made sense (based on reading some of the earlier books The Australian's column made no sense at all as the people the book encourages readers to "act" against are our blueblood conservative elite, not some swarthy bunch of foreigners - but I though I'd check the latest one before mouthing off).

Anyway, having now read the book, the EB version is the correct one - it certainly is "subversive", in that sense that it encourages children to think for themselves and to act accordingly based on traditional liberal values. The anti fascist theme is a lot stronger than in the earlier books, as is the message that people should not blindly follow authority figures - especially the government (the anti slavery theme - in the form of the issue of freeing the house elves - is also there but not particularly prominent, and I started to get the feeling that "the muggles" may actually represent the third world). Some new ideas are also introduced (which I probably wouldn't have understood if it hadn't been for all the tinfoil I've read courtesy of this study of peak oil) like the "new wizarding order" (New World Order) and the "wand of destiny" (spear of destiny) which the Hitler equivalent in the book seized, just like his real life counterpart.

A lot of Christian right types apparently ban their children from reading Harry (blaming the "magic" related content) but I suspect there is a little more too it than just that. Back to The Australian itself, the front page was busy touting the values of elitism today, so their attempts to co-opt Harry to the dark side aren't entirely surprising...

While the Republican party as a whole has been one role model for the Death Eaters in the Harry Potter books there are a few right wing traditionalists still on the good side, with Ron Paul putting in another well received showing at the latest Republican presidential debate.

Some of the reddit commenters think that Paul should start trying to avoid talking about some of his less popular views (and instead focus on massively popular policies like ending the Iraq war) - I think this is a bad idea - the whole point of the Paul movement is to try and bring back honesty into the political debate, instead of the overwhelming tendency towards lies and propaganda. One Democrat commenter notes:

IF Paul becomes the dark horse GOP candidate and it's a big IF..I'd prefer that he win using his current mode and style, so that everyone will know that he was chosen by the voters precicely because he's forthright and sincere, NOT because he's learned to play the system. That would only send the message that staying on script and serving up platitudes is the only realistic way to win.

I'm a Democrat and disagree with Paul about many many things, but I do appreciate his sincerity and believe that his rising popularity can be a good thing if it sends a message that the people are sick to death of the status quo.

On the other hand, pretty much everyone approved of Paul talking down the rude and torture happy Mitt 'Two Guantanamos' Romney as he tried to link the September 11 events and the Iraq war.

Paul is learning... just like the WOPR in Wargames... He let Giuliani interrupt him in a previous debate, allowing Giuliani to claim that Paul was blaming America for 9/11. Romney was trying to do the same thing. But this time there was no more Mr. Nice-Guy Libertarian. Paul stood his ground and didn't let Romney get a cheap shot off. I agree that this was inspiring; it also signifies the change from an uncertain second-tier candidate to one who is confident enough to lead.

Later Paul was asked "What is a defining mistake of your life and why?" Paul said that he doesn't speak forcefully enough for Liberty and for the Constitution. Well, he's started speaking up now!!! And he needs all the people who are pissed about the direction of this country to back him up and start expressing their anger (in an intelligent way, of course...).

Crikey reports the Rodent's minion for controlling indigenous people, Mal Brough, has come up with a novel way of ending the "crisis" in aboriginal communities and bringing wealth and prosperity to the people - by firing all aboriginal government employees so they are then dependent on welfare and thus able to be brought into line by controlling their welfare payments. That's some out-of-the-box thinking.

Indigenous affairs Mal Brough is forcing Aboriginal people out of work in order to make them reliant on welfare. How could this be?

A week ago Brough announced the next chapter of the “intervention”: the abolition of the Community Development Program (CDEP) in the Northern Territory from September. Without any reference to Barbara Bennett of the Workplace Authority, he has determined to throw 8,000 people out of the workforce and onto work for the dole.

Already Aboriginal people at Amoonguna, Impanpa and Mutitjulu in central Australia have been signed off CDEP and on to work for the dole.

Workforce? Yes and no.

CDEP was established in 1977 on the community of Bamyili with the big promise to build communities through 20 hour a week employment, paid at a shade over dole payments. There were also “add ons” of capital and recurrent costs. Bamyili was later re-named Barunga -- the site of another broken promise with Hawke’s 1988 pledge for a treaty with Indigenous Australians.

CDEP’s real achievement for government was that it effectively hid unemployment figures as it spread to its current level of 8,000 participants in the Territory -- and 34,000 nation wide. In Opposition, Territory Labor’s Clare Martin used to make much of this statistical distortion of unemployment figures, but has said sweet fanny adams about it since assuming power.

And it has also bitten Brough in the bum.

When he and Howard announced the national emergency, they proclaimed that they would quarantine the welfare payments of irresponsible parents to force them into spending on food, rent and education rather than grog, p-rn and gambling. Then Brough got the bad news: he couldn’t do that to the incomes of CDEP participants because it was illegal. CDEP wages are just that: wages not welfare.

The solution according to Brough was a novel one -- and one not attempted anywhere else in the western world -- compulsorily remove people from work and put them on welfare. ...

In the meantime, there is deep angst in many towns and communities out bush -- especially those that have successful enterprises based on CDEP workers having “topped up” wages. It’s hardly a princely sum, but it is common for workers in this situation to earn $20-25,000 a year. Such workers also have wage deductions for rent and electricity -- not to mention repayment of loans for household goods and motor cars. On work for the dole -- which they are being forced into -- incomes will be slashed, and any earnings on top of welfare incur deductions after extra earnings of $20 a week. Widespread loan defaulting can be expected. Enterprises on communities such as stores and mechanical shops might be in jeopardy as money on communities becomes scarce -- and they in turn will be forced to cut labour or close shop. The retrenched workers will then be forced on to welfare.

Shades of the Vietnam era philosophy of bombing villages to save them...

Howard's grab for aboriginal uranium is meeting some resistance from the Northern Territory, and, as with everything associated with nuclear power, is proving to be incredibly expensive. Meanwhile the authoritarian minister in charge of the land grab is accusing anyone who resists of "not having a soul" and offering some meagre compensation in the form of "infrastructure" to the dispossessed. Some of this uranium may end up going to India, who will then be as cupable as other recipients (like you readers in France).

INDIGENOUS people who lose their lands in a Commonwealth takeover for five years could get compensation in the form of infrastructure. Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough today said just terms compensation could be considered in many forms, not only cash. The announcement follows a commitment by the Howard Government to spend as much as half a billion dollars this year alone on its radical intervention program for Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Mr Brough said anyone who criticised the $500 million being spent on the federal government's intervention in indigenous communities didn't have a soul. ...

Labor Leader Kevin Rudd said Labor would examine whether each element of the legislation advanced the cause of protecting children. "Clearly whilst we've had people on the ground now for over five weeks, they haven't had the benefits of things such as the welfare reforms or the alcohol bans,'' he said. Asked whether Labor intended to support each element of the legislation, Mr Rudd said: "What we have learnt in long bitter dealings with Mr Howard is wait until you see the black and white letter of the law before you advance a detailed response to it''.
The amount being spent on the takeover far exceeds expectations ... at the time the five-year intervention program was announced in June, John Howard said it was likely to cost only "tens of millions" of dollars to implement. ...

One of the authors of the Little Children Are Sacred report -- the Northern Territory study on Aboriginal child sexual abuse that sparked the federal intervention -- has urged Mr Howard to delay the legislation, accusing the Government of treating indigenous people like children. Speaking at the Garma cultural festival in Arnhem Land, Pat Anderson said the intervention was an affront to basic human rights and had been introduced with "unseemly haste". She urged Mr Howard and Mr Brough to discuss the changes with Aboriginal leaders before moving forward. "I don't know how you can get through to them," she said of the politicians. "I don't know who they are listening to. They don't seem to me to be men who are big enough to take advice."

Under the legislation to go before parliament, the permit system controlling the entry of non-indigenous people to Aboriginal land will be scrapped, the federal Government will seize control of 73 Aboriginal communities for five years, and bans will be imposed on alcohol and pornography. The intervention strategy involves health checks on all indigenous children in the Territory and the quarantining of 50 per cent of parents' welfare payments to ensure that children are cared for properly. ...

Former Northern Land Council chairman and influential Aboriginal leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu set the tone when he addressed a forum of about 200 people on Saturday. "We in the Northern Territory are about to be dispossessed of everything, everything that we've got left from the original dispossession of our land and lives," he said. "That I should go and change my lifestyle and become a white man is worrying -- worrying and sickening."

The SMH notes support for the "old and dishonest" Rodent is "crashing" as the disillusioned electorate grows very tired of his contempt for telling the truth, the current rash of centralist power grabs and longstanding outrage at the Iraq war and obstruction of action on global warming.

John Howard is not too old to be prime minister, just out of touch, Labor leader Kevin Rudd said today. Commenting after the leaking of an internal Liberal Party poll, which revealed voters see the prime minister as "old and dishonest", Mr Rudd said the report showed Mr Howard was out of touch with Australians. "I don't think his age is at all an issue. The question for us is if the government has been there for 11 years, we argue that they've run out of ideas in terms of the big challenges facing Australia for the future," Mr Rudd told Southern Cross Broadcasting. "Mr Howard has lost touch with concerned and working families on the cost of living and housing affordability."

The federal opposition leader refused to say whether he saw Mr Howard as dishonest but said the prime minister had misled the country over issues like Iraq. "I have made very direct accusations against the prime minister in terms of the information he's given to Australia and the Australian people. "On those matters, he's been less than straightforward with the people."

Links:
* BBC - Towns prepare for 'peak oil' point
* Christian Science Monitor - Why 'peak oil' may soon pique your interest
* Technology Review - A More Efficient Engine
* Technology Review - Making Gasoline from Bacteria. More on Amyris and LS9 (and beware the brown goo).
* The Australian - Agreement on rules for carbon capture, storage in the pipeline. Governments waffling about ways to waste taxpayer money pumping carbon dioxide around the country instead of encouraging investment in clean energy sources and ending subsidies to dirty ones.
* The Australian - Hewson hails biodiesel shipment. Our first export of biodiesel (produced from Malaysian palm oil). It seems the drawbacks of biofuels remain opaque even to people who understand the failings of fossil fuels.
* Washington Post - Agreement on rules for carbon capture, storage in the pipeline. John Dingell notes that governments only need to do one thing - implement a carbon tax (and get rid of some other taxes in return) then let the market sort out which forms of clean energy win.
* Past Peak - Lake Superior Warming, Levels Falling To Record Lows
* The Australian - Coral bleaching as record cold hits barrier reef
* PRWatch - Military Takes Aim at U.S. Propaganda Ban. That's one ban that hasn't exactly been effective, has it ? I seem to recall just a little of the stuff flowing around before the Iraq invasion...
* Glenn Greenwald - Manipulating the Media. Who is masterminding the Petraeus show in Baghdad ? "O'Hanlon and Pollack saw what the U.S. military communications team wanted them to see, and that, in turn, was shaped by the same individual whose job it was to manipulate the media for the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign."
* The Australian - Judges fury at terror surrender
* Boing Boing - Zimbabwe: Mugabe enacts law to spy on phones, 'net, mail. "At least we can rest comfortably here in America, knowing such a thing would never happen in a civilized, Western democracy."
* Reuters - Congress yields to pass Bush spying bill. Big brother is watching you (legally, for a change).
* Crooks and Liars - House Passes Bush's FISA Law - American Civil Liberties Destroyed
* PressEsc - Senate won't tell you who voted to authorize Bush's illegal wiretapping
* Lew Rockwell - It's the 1930s All Over Again
* Cryptogon - Low Power HHO Fuel Generator for Off Grid Energy Needs. One commenter notes "Be very careful with this stuff Kevin - I enjoy reading your site several times a week to get your perspective and while I disagree with almost all of your politics/beliefs etc, I admire your independence/enthusiasm and would hate to see you vaporized in an H2/O2 fireball. Stay as far away from the “Widow Maker” as you possibly can…". There is a bit of contention about how dangerous this really is though.
* Energy Bulletin My name is blog, peak oil blog. Celtic battle music ?

And to close, here's Past Peak with Today's Bush Joke:

The CIA has released some documents that detail illegal and scandalous activities they were involved in more than 30 years ago. The activities include wiretapping of phones, warrantless searches and opening citizens' mail. Thank God that kind of thing can't happen today. — Jay Leno