OriginallypostedbyMarketinfo

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2011/07/bushfires-are-the-real-emissions-problem/

Lefties,

SussexStreet

saysthisisOKtoread...................BarrywasaMinisterintheHawkeGovernment............soNoWorries.

Bushfiresaretherealemissionsproblem

SowhyisAustraliasoslowtoadoptprovenfiredetectiontechnology?

BarryCohen

30July2011

12:00AM

Carboncap,carbondioxide,carbonemissions,carbonfibre,carbonfootprint,carbonmarket,carbonmonoxide,carbonpermits,carbonsequestration,carbonsink,carbontax.Hadenough?Thesearejustasampleofthe40-oddwordsandphrasesyoucanfindthatdominatetheheadlinesoftheAustralianmedia.Ifyouskipallarticleswithcarbonintheheadlineyoucanreadapaperinfiveminutes.I’vereachedthepointwhereIyearnforacarbonmonoxidediet.

AsIwroteintheAustralianin2009,‘Icannotrecallanissuewhere,tocoinaphrase,somuchisdebatedbysomany,knowingsolittle.’Ifanythingthesituationhasworsened,andIsuspectthegreatmajorityhavetunedout.

Mostappeartoacceptthatglobalwarmingisoccurring,butdisagreeonwhocausesitandhowtoameliorateit.Nosingleformofenergyappearsacceptable.Hydroelectricity,nuclearpower,coalandoilareno-nos,leavinguswithwindandsolar.

Theyweretheflavourofthemonthuntilitwasfoundthatwindfarmsweresendingthoselivingclosetothembatty.Solarlookedlikethesolesurvivoruntilwelearnedthatitwasoutrageouslyexpensive.JustaskBarryO’Farrell.

Amongthemillionsofwordsspokenandwrittenaboutcarbonemissions,thefactthatathirdofAustralia’semissionscomefrombushfiresisnevermentioned.AsonewhohasspentthetwoyearssinceBlackSaturdaytryingtoconvincepoliticiansofthemassivebenefitsofearlywarningbushfiredetectionsystems,it’sdifficulttounderstandwhy.

WhenIaskedan‘expert’whybushfireswerenotpartoftheequation,hereplied:‘NaturaldisasterswereexcludedfromtheKyotoagreementbecausetheyareuncontrollable.’

Hehadapoint—butnotaverygoodone.Itisundeniablethatearthquakes,volcanos,cyclones,floods,tsunamisandtwistersareuncontrollableandnocountryshouldbeheldresponsibleforcarbonemissionsthatoccurasaresult.Butbushfires?Therearenaturaldisastersduringheatwavesandelectricalstormsandbecauseofspontaneouscombustion,butalargeproportionofbushfiresareanythingbut‘natural’.MarkBurgess,chiefexecutiveofthePoliceFederationofAustralia,quotedareportbytheAustralianInstituteofCriminologyandMonashUniversity,whichstatedthatAustraliaaverages54,000bushfiresperyear,ofwhichbetween20,000and30,000wereduetoarson.Whathasbeenmissingfromthebushfiredebateisthatagreatmanyofthemcanbepreventedifthemoderntechnologyavailableisused.Camerascannotonlyidentifythebushfiresbutinmanycasesthearsonistsaswell.PaulCollins,inhisbookBurn,statesthatthenumberofreportsofarsonincreasedfrom1,200in1975to10,000in1995.Thecost:$500millionperyear.Imaginewhatitwillbelikeifthe‘BigAustralians’haveawinandwecontinuetobuildinthebush.

ProfessorMarkAdamsoftheBushfireCo-operativeResearchCentreestimatesthatthe2003and2006-7bushfirescouldhaveput20to30milliontonnesofcarbon(70to105milliontonesofcarbondioxide)intotheatmosphere;thatthe2009bushfires(BlackSaturday)created165milliontonesofCO2emissions,andthatAustralia’stotalannualemissionsareapproximately330milliontonnes,ofwhich110millionarefrombushfires.

Alloftheaboveraisesthequestion:whyhavethepoliticiansandbureaucratsmadenoefforttousetheearlywarningtechnologydevelopedbytheGermanaerospaceindustryandNASAinplanningtheMarsPathfindermission?Thetechnology,knownasFireWatch,hasreducedthenumberoffiresinGermanyby92percentandisbeingintroducedinLithuaniaandtrialledinMexico,Portugal,Spain,Estonia,Croatia,Greece,Cyprus,KazakhstanandMontenegro.

Thetechnology‘candetectpreciselytheexistenceofsmokeanditslocationbeforethebushfirehastakenholdenablingemergencyservicestodeploytheresourcestoextinguishthefire…asensorcanscananarcof400sqkmandrotateautomaticallythrough360degreeseverysixminutes,24/7.Itcandetectthedifferencebetweensmoke,cloudandmist.Nowwithnightvisionitcanoperateroundtheclock.’Firescanbespottedinsixminutesratherthansixhours.

WhatisextraordinaryisthattothebestofmyknowledgeneitherthePrimeMinisternortheLeaderoftheOppositionhasmentionedthetechnologyorthewayinwhichitcanreduceAustralia’scarbonemissions.

Tohiscredit,urgedonbythethenmemberforMcEwen,FranBailey(Liberal)andLabor’sBillShorten,PMRuddfundedtrialsintheOtwayRangesinVictoriaandTumutinNSWconductedbytheCSIRO.

I’mnotqualifiedtocommentonthefinalCSIROreport,butDavidPackham,aformerprincipalresearchscientistintheCSIROBushfireSectioninVictoria,certainlyis.

Afterascathingcritiqueofthetrials,inwhichhestatedthatthereportshowed‘alackofwillingnesstoexplorenewideasandconcepts’,heurgeditsrejection.

TheCSIROreportandstateemergencyservicesprefer‘humanfire-spotters’whocan’tseeatnightorworkaroundtheclock.

Mostsurprisingisthetotallackofinterestinusingthenewtechnology.WeareunlikelytomatchGermany’s92percentreductioninforestfiresbecausewehavebillionsofflammableeucalypts,butasubstantialreductioninAustralia’semissionsiscertain.

Australia’signoringofearlywarningbushfiresystemscommencedatKyotoandhasexistedtothisday.

Ifmorethanhalfourbushfiresarecausedbyarsonistsandathirdofourcarbonemissionscamefrombushfires,whyisn’tAustraliadoingeverythingwecantoreducetheseemissions,particularlywhenwehavethetechnologytodoso?Whatdoesitmatterwherethecarbonabatementoccurs,solongasithappens?Bushfiresshouldnotbelumpedinwithvolcanos.Australiacaneasilyexceedourgoalsofreducingcarbonemissionsby5percentby2020and20percentby2050.

NotonlyshouldAustraliadoeverythingpossibletoreduceouremissions,butbyusingfiredetectiontechnologywecaninspiretherestoftheworldtofollowsuit:Australiaisnottheonlycountrywithaseriousbushorforestfireproblem.Andnotonlywillwereduceemissions,butwewillsavehundredsoflivesandbillionsofdollars’worthofproperty.

BarryCohen,aformerLaborministerintheHawkegovernment,wasanadvisertoFireWatchuntilrecently.

MI

It would appear the trials were set up to fail;

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/hi-tech-early-detection-system-could-minimise-bushfire-threat/news-story/133400e291ce3cd561e4d7ea18d685a4?sv=f21ec03d4154be31df50095f26385d12


https://www.iq-firewatch.com/risk


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