Submission

                                          To  the

                                           Productivity  Commission’s

                             Inquiry  into  Energy  Efficiency

  What  follows  is  basically  some  comments  &  personal  observations  regarding  the  History  of  the  Technology  &  it’s  relevance  to  the  present  &  future.

  Most  energy  technologies  have  taken  decades  to  evolve  to  the  levels  that  we  know  today.
     In  some  cases  this  has  been  an  evolutionary  process  e.g.
 The  power  industry  has  gone from  the  5 to 10%  of  Parsons  time  to  the  current  35 to 40%  of  today.
  For  some  however  it  has  been  revolutionary.
An  example  here  is  the  Railway  Locomotive, for  up  until  the  1960’s, The  technology  had  changed  little  from that  of  the  1840’s. Then  diesels  started  to  take  over.
Ironically  in  the  Marine  &  Power  Industries, also  using  steam  technology, energy  efficiency  did  evolve  over  time.
  This  could  have  been  due  to  the  Management  & Political  culture  of  the  various  organizations  and  the  mix  of  Private & Public ownership.
  Public  organizations  tend  to  be  more  conservative.  Risk  aversion  policies  become  well  entrenched, resulting  in  a  not  thought  of  here  mentality.
 Private  organizations  on  the  other  hand  where  genuine  competition  exists  cannot  afford  this  approach.  
 Unfortunately  they  also  take  little  notice  of  energy  efficiency  improvements  as  a  way  of  reducing  operating  costs.

Another  problem  with  many  organizations  is  there  belief  in  Infrastructure  monopolies,  even  the  Productivity  Commission  has  fallen  into  this  trap.
Reference  your  comments  in  Box 3  of  Sept 2004  Issue  Paper.
    Electricity  distribution  networks  do  not  have  to  be  owned  by  one  organization, managed  perhaps.  It  can  be  owned  by  many, built  by  many, maintained  by  many  & considerable  number  of  suppliers  and  consumers  can  be  interconnected  to  it.
     They  are  basically  an  infrastructure  system  similar  to  Road  Networks, Rail  Networks, Gas  Pipeline  systems & Telephone  systems.
  The  belief  that  they  are  a  monopoly  natural  or  otherwise  is  more  a  traditional  perception  than  reality.

Again  in  the  case  of  the  electricity  network, deregulation  which  was  supposed  to  effect  the  whole  system  was  then  cut  short  due  to  political  expediency.
    However  even  under  the  current semi-regulated  system  changes  could  be  made  that  could  improve  efficiencies.  
Example : 
Much  smaller  sized  generators  could  be  dispersed  throughout  the  high  demand  areas  either  in  Cogeneration  systems  or  stand alone  units  whether  in  customers  premises  or  at  sub-station  facilities.
 With  quick  start  ability  and  potentially  a  higher  thermal  efficiency  than  that  of  the  base  load  power  stations  themselves,  these  units  responding  to  pricing  signals  from  the  wholesale  market  or  controlled  directly  by  the  network  management,  would  allow  the  base  load  stations  to  operate  at  their  most  efficient  levels.
  This  concept  can  be  applied  even  further  down  the  supply  chain  all  the  way  to  the  home,  small  office  & business  premises  using  U.P.S. (Uninterruptible  Power  Supply )  battery  storage  systems  capable  of  storing  6 to 10  hours  of  electrical  consumption.
  These  would  supply  the  premises  from  the  batteries  during  high  cost  peak  periods  and  then  recharge  during  off peak  periods.
  This  benefits  both  the  supplier  and  consumer.  The  supplier  can  better  level  out  the  highs  and  lows  of  the  generation  and  distribution  systems.
 Again  contributing  to  improved  thermal  efficiencies  at  the  base  load  generators  and  allowing  the  distribution  system  to  be  designed  and  operated  more  into  the  average  transmission  load  band  than  the  peak  load  band.
  The  consumer  would  gain  immediately  from  reduced  power  costs  and  improved  security  against  blackouts.
  As  for  the  technology  in  these  systems  it  has  been  around  for  many  years.
Modern  Smart meters  and  controllers  can  be  used,  but  older  technology  meters  and  control  switches  that  have  been  used  for  off peak  hot  water  previously  can  also  be  used  for  the  battery  storage  systems.
   Even though  many  of  these  technologies  have  been  available  commercially  for  many  years  their  uptake  in  Australia  has  been  woefully  inadequate.  
No  single  standout  cause  can  be  identified  apart  from  a  general  ultra-conservative  don’t  rock  the  boat  reluctance  to  question  the  way  things  are  being  done, until  of cause  something  dramatic  occurs.
  Such  as :-  A  lack  of  water  or  perhaps  power  blackouts  &  rising  fuel  prices.
Panic  over  and  everything  returns  to  normal  until  the  next  time.
  This  stop/start  approach  where  R & D  programs  are  picked  up  then  dumped  on  nothing  more  than  a  political  whim  are  definitely  not  helpful.

                                      

  Particularly  when  they  often  require  in  some  cases  decades  to  go  from  the  initial  Go  Ahead/ Research  Stage  through  to  there  eventual  Commercial  development.
For  anybody  who  has  studied  technical  history  of  the  last  150  years  or  so,  will  notice  the  long  gestation  periods  and   there  reliance  on  either  the  Government, Military  or  Wealthy  individuals  for  financial  support.
 Examples  abound  of  technical  processes  and  their  long  and  continuing  developmental  lead  times,  in  many  cases  they  are  now  major  industries.
  
  Energy  Efficiency  covers  a  huge  range  both  in  the  Technical  and  Administration  areas.  Many  good  ideas, concepts  and  technical  systems  and  solutions  have  been  developed  over  the  years.
 However  the  major  hurdle  appears  to  be  how  do  you  convince  all  those  decision  makers  from  the  very  top  to  the  individual  household  to  take  Energy  Efficiency  seriously  enough  to  adopt  it. Much  of  the  equipment, systems  and  concepts  are  either  initially  expensive, complex  or  simply  beyond  their  comprehension.
  When  was  the  last  time  an  energy  efficiency  program  appeared  on  television  or  as  articles  in  the  press ?

Example :  Try  telling  the  public  that  Brick, Tile  and  Carpets  are  not  good  materials  for  house  construction.
                  When  are  the  railway  organizations  going  to  develop  R & D  programs  for  there  Locomotives  and  trial  ideas  such  as  Hybrid  Transmission  systems. 
               Whatever  happened  to  programs  promoting  Co-Generation  and  Tri-generation.

In  conclusion  I  don’t  believe  an  increase  in  R & D  would  be  necessary  of  itself,  this  may  occur  as  a  result  of  other  actions.
However  we  must  step  up  programs  to  educate  and  make  aware  to  the  decision makers  at  whatever  level,  the  benefits,  systems,  concepts,  approximate  costings,  risks  and  rewards of  Energy  Efficiency.  With  the  added  benefit  of  interlinking  with  the Wholesale  Electricity  Market.