Don Gunasekera

Promoting New Links Between Energy and Meteorology

T he growing body of knowledge and experience in weather and climate risk management in the energy industry has spurred a rapidly growing research interest at the nexus between weather, climate, and energy (Troccoli 2010; Troccoli et al. 2010; Ebinger and Vergara 2011; Marquis 2011). Although this increased attention has been stimulated by a renewed and fervent interest in renewable energy sources, weather and climate information is also critical to managing the energy supply from other energy sectors (e.g., offshore oil operations) as well as understanding and estimating energy demand. Until recently, such applied research was discussed in specialized sessions during conferences organized by industry-specific organizations related to wind energy (e.g., American Wind Energy Association), solar energy [e.g., Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (SolarPACES)], and meteorology (e.g., European Meteorological Society). To take advantage of the substantial overlap between these energy activities and their use of weather and climate information, the International Conference Energy and Meteorology (ICEM) 2011 (www.icem2011.org/) was convened in Queensland, Australia. The objective was to provide a dedicated forum where scientists, engineers, economists, policy makers, and other specialists and practitioners involved in research or implementation activities at the intersection between weather, climate, and energy could discuss recent research findings and emerging practices ranging from operational activities to longterm investment planning and to policy making. Such discussions were framed within the context of all energy sector uses, including climate change mitigation and weather/climate risk management practices. The four expected outcomes of this conference were as follows:

Potential role of renewable energy in water desalination in Australia

With projected increases in population and urbanisation in Australia, the sustainable supply of water and energy over the medium to long term will be an important challenge. In this context, meeting a part of the growing demand for urban water may involve reliance upon desalinated water in the future. Moreover, the feasibility and viability of renewable energy sources for water desalination will be of policy importance, particularly in a potentially low carbon Australian economy. In this article, we analyse the potential applicability of solar and wind energy to provide power for water desalination. In two illustrative examples, we assess the feasibility of supplying 3% of Sydney’s projected total water consumption (supplied at an average rate of 24.7 Gl/yr) and 5% of Sydney’s projected water consumption (supplied at an average rate of 32.7 Gl/yr) over a 15-yr period (2011–2025) using a photovoltaic (PV) solar powered (130 MW) and a hybrid (PV solar and wind energy) powered (205 MW) reverse osmosis (RO) d...

Effects of foreign direct investment in African agriculture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the key issues surrounding foreign direct investment (FDI) in agriculture, and examine the potential impacts of FDI in African agriculture. Design/methodology/approach – The dynamic Global Trade Analysis Project model (GDyn) is used to analyse the potential impacts of improvements in land productivity and FDI in Africa. Findings – The results illustrate that combined efforts to improve land productivity and growth in FDI could potentially increase Africa’s share in global agricultural output and exports, particularly with respect to oil seeds, sugar, and cotton. Originality/value – The authors employ a global economy-wide modelling framework to simulate the effects of growth in FDI in African agriculture.

Energy and Meteorology: Partnership for the Future

This concluding chapter draws on the main aspects covered in this book, such as the discussions on the increasing reliance of the energy sector on meteorological information. We then describe current and potential funding models of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services. These are the main, though not the only, providers of meteorological information for energy and all the other sectors affected by meteorological phenomena. It emerges that public sector funding for such Services are dwindling. This is in spite of the recognised impacts that meteorology has on the energy industry, and on other sectors. Some lessons from the important interaction between aviation and meteorology are discussed with a view to drawing some parallels with energy. We then discuss possible options for strengthening the relationship between energy and meteorology in order for society to be better prepared for the increasing vulnerability of the energy sector to the vagaries of weather and climate.

Bridging the Energy and Meteorology Information Gap

This chapter discusses the information gaps relating to the type, level of accuracy and frequency of delivery of specific weather and climate information, and what extra information is required by the energy sector in the coming years. It is argued that ongoing technical and scientific interaction between weather and climate service providers and the energy sector, supported by input from the information and communication technologies, can help bridge these gaps. This will help the users in the energy sector to both understand and respond appropriately to the available weather and climate information. Focusing on the linkages between weather-, climate- and energy-related information and data, the chapter draws attention to barriers to data sharing, benefits of overcoming the barriers and strategies to enhance data-sharing arrangements between the weather, climate and energy communities.

Post-harvest loss reduction in Asia-Pacific developing economies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to review the post-harvest loss experience of several Asia-Pacific economies to analyse the potential impacts of reduction of such losses using a range of remedial measures. Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual framework has been developed and then applied to a case study based on several Asia-Pacific economies to provide an empirical basis for the analysis in the paper. Findings - Limited access to vital farm inputs and credit, poor infrastructure and lack of technical and market information are some of the critical challenges confronting many small farmers in developing economies including those in the selected case-study countries. The estimated “food savings” are considerable if Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s pledge to reduce food losses and waste by 10 per cent by 2020, relative to the 2011-2012 levels is realised in the case-study economies. Research limitations/implications - Further work is urgently required to collect more up-to-date data on food losses along the food supply chain, including post-harvest losses, in many economies across the world, including the Asia-Pacific region. Originality/value - The analysis of post-harvest losses is underpinned by a conceptual framework that has been developed and applied to several Asia-Pacific economies.

Renewables: The sky is the limit

To improve the accuracy of products derived from shared satellite observations of Earth (see M. A. Wulder and N. C. Coops Nature 513, 30–31; 2014), governments and research institutes also need to share calibration and validation data. Such data are measured on the ground or interpreted from highresolution satellite imagery. Satellite images are now available at very high resolution. Crowd-sourced calibration and validation data would vastly improve classification algorithms as well as the accuracy of landcover products. Enhanced accuracy would enable remote sensing to be better used for monitoring biodiversity loss and ecosystem dynamics, for example, and for other applications that depend on baseline and changing land cover. Efforts such as the Global Observation of Forest Cover and Land Dynamics and Geo-Wiki.org are working in this direction. More initiatives are needed to unlock the incredible amount of data that remain confined within institutes and agencies. Linda See, Steffen Fritz, Ian McCallum International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria. see@iiasa.ac.at Renewables: the sky is the limit

Sharing: project will make climate data freely available to all

SIR — Some of the concerns expressed in your News story on the difficulties of collecting and sharing climate data across countries are unjustified (Nature 461, 159; 2009). The World Meteorological Organization’s task force is helping to develop a Global Framework for Climate Services to link weather predictions, projections and information with climate-risk management and adaptation. This international service will provide free and unrestricted collection and exchange of meteorological data. Because the information is for the public good, there will be no competition or exclusion in accessing it. Application by one user will not reduce its availability to others. It would also be impossible — or very costly — to exclude potential users from using the data for their own benefit. Another advantage is that although climate information is expensive to produce, it is relatively cheap to reproduce and distribute — making it economically efficient to supply these valuable data to all for free. Don Gunasekera Centre for Complex Systems Science, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, GPO Box 3023, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia e-mail: don.gunasekera@csiro.au