Conservation One

Good day dear reader,

There are two things I can think of straight out of the bag that will help Australians lower their carbon foot-print and help keep our air that little bit cleaner.

1) Solar power. Okay this is not new news. However some years ago I came up with a plan (typical table napkin calculation stuff) as to how Australians wouldn't need to pay electricity bills ever again. It's detailed below.

2) Nuclear power. Okay, contentious ... in this country. To be blunt though, when we are the major holder of uranium deposits world-wide and we are happy to mine and export it, we should damn well use it ourselves. I also think there's a strong case for howwe go about doing these things so we are environmentally responsible AND build our economy at the same time.

For this blog.. I'll look at Solar power first.

My somewhat idealistic plan looks a little like this:

You have a goal: power all Australian homes with solar power
You have a time line: 5 years
You have a budget: $32 billion (some years later this turned into the amount given as tax cuts)


Stage One:

First of all you headhunt: Wanted! The best solar power minds in the world. Come and work for a stable government run organisation where you'll be work with a team of highly skilled scientists and engineers. You will be provided with top flight housing, income for 18 months, all relocation expenses and an opportuinity to live in one of the worlds most appealing countries. Oportunities for lucrative bonuses.

We find 20 to 30 of the world's leading solar and or scientific or engineering minds. We test them out and place them in a number of teams. Each team is equiped with a laboratory and a hefty expense account for equipment and R&D expenses. Start the clock NOW.
Each team has exactly 12 months to come up with the solar cell to beat all other solar cells. It must be a) the most efficient cell - producing maximum stable electical flow under various solar conditions and b) tough - to last a long time (say ten years) and different weather conditions and impacts etc.

To get these people will take 6 months - hire a firm to do it.
The engineering / science dudes get 12 months (plus time to relocate) and then there's time to judge the best solar cell. This solar technolofy is owned by the government.
The winning team members each get $1,000,000 and an opportunuity to move here permanently. There's the incentive. Rules: no cheating. Technologies derived will be owned by the Australian people and administered by the Australian Government.


Stage Two:

Manufacture. The Australian people have funded this venture so each home will get it's power from the super efficient, Australian government owned, solar cells. When Raj and I were discussing this, we discussed a plan the South Australian gov had at one stage where they'd provide half the funding for solar power to a home, which at the time was around $8,000 (total of $16,000). With efficiencies in manufacturing and bulk production, we figured we could get that cost down to about $4,000 a home. That's cells, regulators, batteries to store for night time use and hook up to grid.

You set up two or three large manufacturing hubs. For starters the La Trobe Valley would be a great place to set up a large factory complex; I mean HUGE and get all the unemployed down there in Gippsland (Sale etc.) working. A few more around the country. Cuts down transportation costs and also less down time if something goes wrong at one site (contingency). After manufacture and fitting of all these to each Australian home (two to three years later) start exporting.

Stage Three:

Export and protection of international patient.
Australians, like the British are good at giving ideas away and not protecting their intelectual property (okay the yanks stole a lot of British ideas). Start earning abck some of that huge investment in solar by selling to the rest of the world. Resist the tempation to send jobs overseas and actually start supporting Australian manufacturing again.
Rigerously protect in international law courts the design oand principles of the patiented cell technology.

Result: Homes are powered and some offices probably as well. Still there are many office blocks that will draw on the grid that will require energy from elsewhere.. and that should come from.... See you next time.

Brief Updates

Referencing a recent post on the type of guns police use in the state of Victoria recent changes in policy by Victoria police, as announced by the Police Commissioner, mean an estimated 6,500 semi-automatic weapons will be imported into Victoria (ref Herald Sun.com). While the use of Tasers has been ruled out at this stage, I notice Mr Mullet of the Police Association was quick to follow up with that as the next proposed weapon for Police use.

I'm wondering how heavily armed Victorian Police need to be? It is unfortunate that experience in NSW has shown that when Police have semi-automatic weapons, the criminal element increase their firepower to compensate (see the below referenced article).

Perhaps I need to spend more time with Police Officers. While I sympathize that they deal with the most offensive members of the community, they also deal with the rest of us. To serve and protect. Many excellent Police operations have been carried out to reduce illegal guns in the community and my belief is, that rather than upping the anti with increased firepower, more dedicated Police work such as that mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald, gets rid of the guns carried by criminals and reduces violent crime.

So what sort of weapons will the Police be using? I hope the accountants don't come out and compromise the safety of Officers by choosing a weapon that is not fit for the job. Similarly, sufficient training dollars are invested to ensure Police are comfortable and competent with their arms.

Time will tell.