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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Mega-power plant planned

Raras Cahyafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Fri, November 07 2014

Indonesia will build a 5,000-megawatt power plant in Cilacap, Central Java, as part of the new government’s ambitious program to have at least an additional 35,000 MW of power within five years.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Indroyono Soesilo said Thursday that development of the first stage of the huge power plant complex, which would be among the largest in the world, was expected to begin next year so that it could begin commercial operation by 2018. 

“In the first stage, the power generation capacity will reach 2,000 MW,” he said after a coordinating meeting with relevant institutions at the office of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. Indroyono said the entire power plant project, which will have five generation units each with 1,000-MW capacity, was expected to be completed within seven years.
Adaro Energy is planning to expand its power generation business to tap Indonesia's growing demand for electricity.
Adaro Energy is planning to expand its power generation business
to tap Indonesia's growing demand for electricity.

Faced with falling demand for coal, producers build inefficient coal power stations


The minister said the power plant complex would be built by PT Jawa Energy and backed by Chinese investors.

If it is realized, the new power plant will be the largest in Indonesia. The coal-fired Paiton power plant in Probolinggo, East Java, which at present produces about 2,000 MW of electricity, is the country’s largest. The Paiton power plant was initially designed to have a total capacity of more than 4,000 MW. 

Taiwan’s Taichung is the largest coal-fired power plant in the world, with a capacity of 5,500 MW. 

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said explained that the 5,000-MW power plant would use an ultra-super critical boiler technology that would be able to reduce the harmful emissions resulting from coal usage.

“The power produced will first be directed to an industrial zone in the area and the remainder will be bought by PLN,” Sudirman said.

The power plant plan was made several years ago but it could not be realized due to licensing and land-acquisition problems.

New power plant complex will be built in two stages

  • First stage of development will begin next year
  • Commercial production is expected to begin by 2018
The complex will need a plot of about 120 hectares in Cilacap. Around 70 hectares would be obtained from the Army’s properties, said Cilacap regent Tatto Suwarto Pamuji. Meanwhile, another 20 hectares was owned by the local administration and the remainder belonged to local citizens in one village.

“Everything is ready. We only lack the location license. However, the coordinating minister said during this morning’s meeting that the license would be followed up,” Tatto said.

With the government’s support, construction of the coal-fired power plant was expected to kick off next year, according to Tatto. 

The government had also settled the mechanism to use the Army’s land for the power plant complex, Indroyono said. 

“As the land belongs to the Army, it means it also belongs to the state. Therefore, the state will pass the title to PLN [the state electricity company]. PLN will then rent the land to the power plant investors.

In a short time, we will discuss the matter with the Finance Ministry,” Indroyono said, adding that the Army chief of staff was also present at the meeting and had agreed to the plan.

Land acquisition has long been a problem for many planned power plant projects in Indonesia. The significant 2,000-MW Japan-sponsored Batang power plant, also in Central Java, has been delayed for years because of a lack of land as local residents have opposed the project.

As of the end of July, the country had 51,980 MW total installed capacity. Given demand growth of about 7 percent per year, the country needs to add 5,700 MW new capacity a year or face a power crisis.

As a number of power plant projects have been delayed, mostly because of land-acquisition problems, Java and Bali are expected to face a power crisis as early as 2016.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said earlier that the current government expected to add 35,000 MW capacity within its five years in office.

PLN president director Nur Pamudji said earlier that the 35,000-MW power plants would come from ongoing and new projects. He said about 15,000 MW would be supplied by PLN’s power plants and the other 20,000 MW by independent power producers (IPPs).

Monday, February 9, 2015

Electric Shock

NT News, 9 Feb 2015, by Maria Billias

Nightcliff Fitness Works gym owner Seann Scheppard says his power costs have shot up in the past quarter
Nightcliff Fitness Works gym owner Seann Scheppard 
says his power costs have shot up in the past quarter
Territorians hit out at power price hikes with many outraged bills have doubled over last quarter.

TERRITORIANS have hit out at the latest power and water price hikes, with some residents claiming their bills have more than doubled in the past quarter. 

One business owner told the NT News his electricity costs had gone from $9,000 to $15,000 per quarter. Jacana Energy has laid the blame on increased energy consumption over the festive period, but the bills also incor- porate the 5 per cent price hike introduced on January 1. 

Fitness Works owner Seann Scheppard said he had no option but to absorb the costs as a loss so fees were not passed on to members. The gym’s electricity costs have shot up from $2000 to $5000 a month in the past few months. 

“We don’t pass the costs on so we are losing money – it’s a lose-lose situation,” Mr Scheppard said. “You think you are doing OK ... and then you get a bill. It’s quite stressful.” This is the third increase since the NT Government announced the three-year rollout of power price rises in 2012. 

Chief Minister Adam Giles was forced to stagger the fee increases after public outrage at his predecessor Terry Mills’ attempt to slap an outright 30 per cent jump in 2012. But furious Territorians left about 200 acid comments on a public Facebook page when the latest bills rolled in. 

Jen Minotto posted: “Our last one was $476, the one I received the other day was $1078, I’m so angry.” Vicki Price said: “Yep our last bill with 8 weeks of visitors was $1200, this bill is $1600. “I think it’s time to move home, living in the NT is just too expensive.” 

The Power and Water Corporation was split into electricity generation and retail companies on July 1, 2014. Electricity bills now come from Jacana Energy. Jacana Energy boss Stuart Pearce said energy consumption in the Top End was higher in the Wet. “There are many reasons why bills can be a bit higher at this time of year following the build-up or the festive season and each little addition to energy consumption adds up,” Mr Pearce said. “The Territory is one of the highest users of electricity, but enjoy one of the lowest rates in the country.”

Friday, January 23, 2015

Science 2.0 Newsletter January 2015


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There And Back Again: A Uranium Isotope's Journey To The Center Of The Earth








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Culture       January 12, 2015
Nominate A Top European Influencer For 2015
The Wired 100, now in its fifth year, is an annual celebration of Europe's top digital influencers - the people in the Wired world having the most influence over the sector right now (as opposed to in the past). . Link

  

Physics
Lepton-Flavor-Violating Higgs Decays Fit In With LHCb Anomalies
The CMS Collaboration at the LHC collider has recently measured a non-negligible rate for the fraction of Higgs boson decays into muon-tau pairs. The observation is not statistically significant enough to cause an earthquake in the world of high-energy physics but the matter becomes more interesting if there is a theoretical model which allows for the observed effect, AND if the model is not entirely crazy. Link


Environment
10,000 Shots Of Scotch And Why I Don't Fear Pesticides
One of the biggest struggles in toxicology is creating the correct parameters so you are modeling the real world as closely as possible. It's an enormous task to model the environment with its millions of factors, so controlled studies are done using animals. Link


Education

These semi-serious but mostly joking statements are based on my observations as a student and as a Adjunct Professor at community colleges. Link

Space
Dawn Spacecraft Will Introduce Us to a Strange New World
NASA's Dawn mission is closing in on a mysterious, unknown world in the asteroid belt. Link


Policy

Ted Cruz Overseeing NASA? It Hasn't Looked This Bad Since 2013, Except For 1993, 1973 And 1959

Picture this scenario: A politician is appointed to run NASA who thinks its budget is too high and then half its money and a third of its workforce is on its way to evaporating. Public support for a mission to Mars is nonexistent.

It must be in late 2015, after anti-science Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has control of NASA, if you read science media.

But it was actually 1973, the Golden Age of Space Exploration. Link


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Academy of Interactive Entertainment Newsletter January 2015



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January 2015
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Industry demand for AIE graduates!

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Global Game Jam on this weekend

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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Checking energy use and controlling devices on the world wide web

It is now relatively easy to assemble a composite module that incorporates 4 existing electronic circuits available on eBay that use mains voltage and is packaged so that the mains voltage components just plug in and are not exposed like the 5 V dc embedded system connectors of the modules.

The four modules that I think would make a useful and safer composite module if the mains voltage connectors are separated and simplified are -
  • An ACS712 current sensor module
ACS712 Current Sensor Module
  • An ac voltage sensor module
Voltage sensor module
  • A zero-crossing solid state relay similar to those made by FOTEK, and
Solid state relay
  • A 5V AC-DC Power Supply Buck Converter Step Down Module similar to those sold by ICStation
5V ac dc step down power supply
The composite module could have a simple mains voltage plug and an output power socket, with no mains voltage connectors exposed such as this -
AU Plug Power device

Adding a further two low-voltage modules to the composite module allows energy use of any device to be measured and logged on the world wide web and also allows control of the device to be managed automatically from anywhere on the world wide web -

  • A Mini USB Nano V3.0 ATmega328P 5V 16M Micro-controller Module similar to those sold on eBay

Mini USB Nano V3.0
  • An ESP8266 Esp-01 Serial Port WIFI Transceiver Module similar to those sold on eBay
ESP8266 Esp-01 Serial Port WIFI Transceiver

UPDATE 27 January 2023 - See an example of what others are doing with this approach to energy monitoring technology - Mini Smart Wi-Fi Socket with Energy Monitoring

Monday, November 10, 2014

PM Transcript: Address to the APEC CEO Summit National


Google "Dr Vu Tien Loc the Chairman of the APEC CEO Summit" then select the first item found by the search...

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - Hit by public service staff cut
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - Hit by public service staff cuts
 Result -

Fatal error. Cannot open database connection. could not find driver 


This is Google's cache of http://pmtranscripts.dpmc.gov.au/preview.php?did=22590. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 5 Oct 2014 15:00:57 GMT.


Thank you very, very much Mr Price for those words of introduction. I would also like to acknowledge Dr Vu Tien Loc the Chairman of the APEC CEO Summit, ladies and gentlemen.

First may I say that it's a great pleasure for me and for all the other Australians here, either as delegates to the CEO Summit or as part of my travelling party to be in Hanoi. I want to congratulate the Vietnamese Government, I want to congratulate the business community of Vietnam for the preparations that have been made for this the largest gathering of this kind by far ever staged in Vietnam. It does have historic significance for this country and it is an important further milestone along the path of bringing the people of this country and the people of the region, not least my own country, where there are almost 200,000 Australians of Vietnamese descent bringing our two societies together. I hope that all of the members of the various delegations will go away from Hanoi with warm and very affectionate views of both this lovely city and also the friendship of the Vietnamese people.

We gather at this APEC Summit, of course, all of us, I think, very conscious of two historic and permanent shifts in the world's economic order that are under way. The first of those is that the centre of gravity of the world's middle class is shifting permanently to Asia. Not since the industrial revolution has the centre of gravity of the world's middle class inexorably shifted in such a direction. By the year 2010 or 2015 at the latest there will be between 400-800 million middle class citizens in the nations of Asia and for the first time since the industrial revolution it will be possible to say to that the centre of gravity of the world's middle class has shifted from Europe and North America to Asia.

The second inexorable and permanent, in my view, economic shift that is occurring is that the most dynamic region in the world is, and will remain, the Asia Pacific region. The region that is so far as economic leaders are concerned represented by the APEC gathering. And that is the reason why Australia has from the very beginning put an enormous investment of time and effort politically and diplomatically and economically in APEC and why I take this opportunity of reaffirming my country's very strong commitment to APEC as the principal vehicle for regional cooperation at an economic level.

These meetings provide not only a remarkable opportunity to share experiences and test policies economically but also a remarkable opportunity for bilateral political exchange and dealing with some of the world and the region's particular political challenges.

I put it to you that, and I would hope this is an incontestable proposition, but I always think it's a good idea to repeat incontestable propositions unless they lose that particular character. I put it to you that the great success of this region has been its investment in openness and innovation. That it's a good idea to do a little stocktake at a meeting like this and to trace the experience of those countries that have embraced innovation and have embraced openness and globalisation and compare that experience with those countries that have set their face against it. And also trace the experience of countries that went down the path of globalisation and innovation earlier compared with those countries that took rather longer to realise that innovation and globalisation and economic openness remain the unavoidable glide paths to economic growth and the lifting of living standards.

It's popular of course to be in receipt of admonitions from leaders of pop culture, if I can put it that way, and others to do more to lift the world's poor out of their current state. Some of those commentators are not so ready to acknowledge the extraordinarily large number, the millions of people in this region and in other parts of the Asian region that have been lifted from poverty over the last 25 years as a result of the application of the principles of innovation and globalisation.

The success story of countries such as China in particular, but increasingly of course India and other member countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The success story of those countries in lifting their populations out of poverty through economic growth is often lost sight of. Understandably the world still, and rightly so, agonises about the apparent inability of the countries of Africa to seize the tools of better governance and economic optimism to bring about the same changes within their nations but it cannot be denied that the success of so many nations in this region in lifting their populations out of poverty has been truly remarkable and is more deserving of comment and praise than is often the case.

I think it is therefore important that a meeting like this to reaffirm our belief that we should stick to the winning formula, we should therefore do two things in the area of international trade. As a group the APEC countries should reassert their belief and confidence in the importance of the current Doha Round being conducted under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation. It doesn't look very optimistic at the present time because there remains a gulf despite what I regard as relatively generous offer from the United States, there still remains a significant gap between the position of the United States, the European Union and some other major participants in the international trade negotiations but we should take the opportunity at this APEC gathering to reassert the importance of the Doha Round and reassert our belief that achieving progress on the multilateral front is a goal that all of us should maintain and should strive to achieve.

The other thing I believe we should do is to recommit ourselves to the Bogor goals of free trade within the developed countries by 2010 and within the developing countries by 2020.Now we haven't got there. You would have to be a supreme optimist to say that we would absolutely achieve the first of those objectives by 2010 but we have made a lot of progress and I think it is always important in these things to preserve a sense of balance and a sense of perspective and we ought to note the progress that has been made, the sharply lower trade barriers that exist between the member countries of APEC and recommit ourselves to achieving an even closer outcome in relation to those goals.

In introducing me Mr Price was kind enough to talk about Australia's own economic experience. My country is now in its sixteenth year of unbroken economic growth and it's probably the longest period of continuous economic expansion that Australia has had in her history. We did have quite strong levels of economic growth in the 1960s but in those days we were a far more protected economy. We had a controlled exchange rate, we had high tariffs, we had a centralised wage fixing system that said that you should be paid the same irrespective of output which was a nice idea in theory but in practice it did have a stultifying effect on Australia's capacity to grow and to compete.

In 2006 we are a vastly different country [emphasis added]. We have very few tariffs to speak of. We of course have a floating exchange rate, we have a much freer labour market, we have a very strong budget surplus and we have engaged a number of very important innovations in economic policy. And one of those which is not very often remarked about, either in Australia or elsewhere, is that I think we are the first and perhaps only developed country in the world to have totally privatised our labour exchange system. Something that we did not long after the Government came to office in 1996 [emphasis added].

So we have had a great deal of success and I would say undeniably that this is the product of policies of openness and policies of innovation and Australia's continued economic growth will rest very heavily on a maintenance of those policies.

We have, of course, been blessed by providence with remarkable energy resources and I want to say before I conclude something about a contemporary issue and a contemporary challenge for all of our countries and that is in the interlocking areas of climate change and energy security. And these two issues do have to be talked about together because they are really the flipsides of the same coin. No country that is seeking to expand and lift its living standards is going to forsake the availability of cheap resources and cheap supplies of energy. And equally no country is going to imperil its energy security as part of the process of reducing the negative effects of climate change [emphasis added].

Like many people I am not necessarily convinced that everything that is said about climate change is right. I retain some degree of scepticism about some of the things that are said in a frenetic manner about climate change. I am nonetheless of the view that the accumulation of sensible scientific opinion suggests that the level of greenhouse gas emissions is potentially dangerous and even if at a minimum we adopt the insurance principle it's important that the world do something about it.

One of the great advantages of APEC is that it brings together five of the six member countries of AP6 which is some five countries, the United States, Australia, Korea, China and Japan, with India being the only other member of AP6 which is not a member of APEC. And this particular grouping of countries which coincidentally comprises about 50 per cent of the world's GDP, about 50 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and about 50 per cent of the world's population also coincidentally brings together some energy-hungry countries such as China and India and also some energy-rich countries such as Australia and Canada.

In order to move our own country's policies forward on issues of climate change and energy security, I have recently announced a task group comprising both the Government and the Australian business community to examine in broad detail the size and structure, or the nature rather and structure of what a world emissions trading system might look like.

Australia has not signed the or ratified the Kyoto Protocol and we won't be ratifying the Kyoto Protocol [emphasis added] for the reasons we have stated for a number of years. Not only is that Protocol not comprehensive enough in its application to the world's major emitters but potentially carried with it penalties and disadvantages for Australia, particularly in relation to our unique endowment of energy. We as a matter of principle would support involvement on a global basis in a emissions trading system and one of the purposes of this task group in Australia is to examine the structure and the nature of what a global emissions trading system might take and also in the meantime the additional steps our own country will take consistent with the development of a global emissions trading system.

I might mention that although Australia has not and will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol the emissions target set by Kyoto for Australia will either be met or as we say 'near as damn it' be met and that target of 108 between the designated years of 2008 and 2012 and whilst we for good national interest reasons have not embraced ratification, we have nonetheless committed ourselves to achieve the target which has been set and I am very optimistic that we will in fact do that.

Part of our process in relation to climate change is to have an open-minded approach to nuclear power. I believe that public opinion in Australia has shifted very markedly on nuclear power and I see the response of our country and indeed the response of the world in relation to the challenge of climate change as involving not one single response but a response that acknowledges the importance of such developments and innovations as clean coal technology and Australia has invested very heavily in that and will invest even more in that and I hope in partnership with other countries in the region. But also in acknowledging that renewables, although they can never take the place of fossil fuels and potentially nuclear power in relation to base load power generation, that they can play a part. So we see all aspects of generation. Fossil fuels, which we see the world still being very heavily dependent on decades into the future, nuclear power and renewables all playing a very significant role.

So ladies and gentlemen let me finish by saying again that we are part of both geographically and economically part of a permanent and historic shift in two areas. The way in which the centre of gravity of the world's middle class has shifted to Asia, the extraordinary contribution being made to that process by China and now increasingly India and of course our own region which brings together what is still the most powerful economy in the world and in my view likely to remain for the foreseeable future, the United States, and the other great economies of this region.

This is the most dynamic, fastest growing, vital economic region of the world and I hope that the opportunity of this meeting taking place here in Hanoi is of lasting value to the people of this country that I wish well on behalf of my Government and all of the Australian people.

Thank you.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

ANU divestment


13 October 2014


Australian National University


As you may be aware, last week the University Council decided to sell a relatively small number of shares in seven companies. The decision has sparked an extraordinary reaction. I’ve written about the matter in an Op Ed published today.
ANU invests for the betterment of its community – students, staff and researchers. The returns on these investments fund scholarships, staff salaries, research projects and new infrastructure. The University has a responsibility to invest wisely but also in a manner consistent with the desires of our stakeholder students, alumni and staff.
To this end, the decision to divest was made after a review commissioned as part of our Socially Responsible Investment Policy. The review was undertaken by the independent Centre for Australian Ethical Research (CAER) and provided Environmental, Social and Governance Ratings on ANU-held domestic stocks. Using an internationally recognised methodology, our investments were assessed against environmental, social and governance criteria.
The ANU community – staff, students and alumni – has been very engaged in the debate about divestment. As the national university, we have a role to play in national and global debates of this kind.
As always, I welcome your views.
Professor Ian Young AO
Vice-Chancellor