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Speaker abstracts and biographies
Chair: Professor Mike Sandiford, Director, Melbourne Energy Institute
Professor Mike Sandiford is the Director of the Melbourne Energy Institute. The Melbourne Energy Institute is a University of Melbourne interdisciplinary research organisation working in areas including energy production, distribution and consumption and economics and policy. He is also the Professor of Geology at the University of Melbourne. His work on the thermal structure of the Australian crust provides an important framework for understanding the extraordinary abundance of Uranium in Australia, and has lead to the current upsurge of interest in geothermal energy exploration in South Australia.
His work has been published in 132 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has involved supervision of 77 young researchers at Honours (52), PhD (12) and junior postdoc (13) level. Since 2000 his group has been awarded ~$4.0 million in ARC competitive grants (6xFellowship, 6xDiscovery, 1xLinkage). He was recipient of the Mawson Medal by the Australian Academy of Sciences in 2004 for ‘outstanding contributions to Australian Earth Science’, and has twice been awarded the Stillwell medal by the geological Society of Australia, for his published work. He is an editor-in-chief of the international journal Tectonophysics. He is currently the chair of the Science advisory Framework for the NCRIS AuScope (with ~ 129 mill funding). He regularly contributes to the broader scientific debate through media appearances and public lectures.
Clean energy to the North
New politics has now also entered the equation, giving formal recognition to the need to not only fix the province’s power problems, but to greatly enhance Australia’s intention to continue the search, if not for politically acceptable ETS, then for a reduction in our CO2 emissions from stationary energy generation. A proposed solution is to unlock the enormous potential of this region by way of a nation building project which will serve the interests of industry, as well as the interests of clean energy consumers into the future.
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Paul has been involved with a variety of organisations over a number of years. Since 2004, he has been Mayor of the McKinlay Shire Council. He is currently an Executive Member of MITEZ, the Mount Isa to Townsville Economic Development body, Chair of the North West Queensland Regional Roads Group and Co Chair of the statutory North West Queensland Regional Planning group. He is passionate about all things which leave a better place for the future.
Transmission issues in the National Electricity Market
These issues mean that prospective new entrant generators will need a thorough understanding of how they may be impacted by the limitations of the transmission grid. In this presentation, Joel Gilmore will give an overview of Australia’s transmission network and the issues facing both new and existing generators, drawing on ROAM’s extensive modelling of real world projects and transmission lines.
The following issues will be addressed:
- The structure of Australia's transmission grid
In particular, Joel will look at South Australia as a case study of a location with excellent renewable resources (wind, solar and geothermal) but significant transmission issues. He will also talk about some of the Rule changes proposed that might allow remote renewables to flourish as we work towards the 20% Renewable Energy Target.
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Joel Gilmore, ROAM Consulting
Dr Joel Gilmore is part of ROAM’s Climate Change and Renewable Energy group. He works with renewable generation proponents, particularly large-scale wind and solar generators, to model the operation of their investment in the market.
Prior to joining ROAM, Joel completed a PhD in physics at the University of Queensland and was subsequently employed there as a professional science communicator.
The European DESERTEC Industrial Initiative: Could it be a template for Australia/Asia?
Using the DII as a template, Stewart will evaluate whether the vision is relevant to Australia as it works in the future to better harness its vast renewable energy resources and reorient its energy economy toward low emission energy. Stewart will argue that Australia's renewable energy resources are so vast, it could one day become a net exporter of clean energy to Asia.
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Stewart Taggart, Founding Member, DESERTEC Foundation
art Taggart is a founding member of the Germany-based DESERTEC Foundation. He is also administrator of DESERTEC-Australia and DESERTEC-Asia. Both aim to raise the profile of the DESERTEC ideas in Australia and Asia.
Prior to becoming involved in DESERTEC, Stewart was a technology and energy market journalist, covering world energy markets and the telecommunications revolution of the 1990s for a series of publications.
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