Heatwave & Solar performance

While many of the plants in my garden are natives and planted to survive hot, dry conditions, there are some that have not.
So that's why my Silver Birch Trees are looking scorched and the Fuchsia is dry and frizzled after the latest heatwave,.






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The Financial Review last weekend published on its front page "Wind and Solar can't handle heat" by Angela Macdonald-Smith.
The RenewEconomy writer Ric Brazzale  hit back with an article indicating that Solar had helped to provide enough electricity during the heatwave days to reduce the peak load on the network. The effect of solar has also been to move the peak demand to later in the day as well.

"Solar PV’s contribution has been a lot more than just reducing peak demand by 4.6%. Its operation has meant that much higher cost generators have not had to be dispatched. As a result the wholesale power price has not risen anywhere near as high as other times when we have reached very high levels of demand. As a comparison Victoria’s previous peak demand of 10,415 MW occurred on Thursday, 29 January 2009 in the half hour period commencing 12.30 pm. The average wholesale market price during the afternoon (12.00 pm to 6.00pm) was $4,619/MWh."
and 
"Without the contribution of solar PV, many more assets would have come under pressure and more customers will have been disconnected.'

See the Australian Photovoltaic Insitute for details.

And by the way, comparing small scale PV on people's roofs to that of a large coal fired power station, as the AFR writer did, is patently absurd. I never bought my unit to be the sole electricity source and the advances in solar storage have not yet been made to allow the energy to be cheaply and easily stored. But that is coming, faster than the CO2 dinosaurs think.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/graph-of-the-day-how-aemo-saw-rooftop-solar-in-heatwave-27763 for the information below.

Heatwave conditions

Today is forecast to be the last in the four days of above 40 degree heat.
The cool change has been forecast to arrive approx 8 pm, late enough for us to easily reach 44 degrees.
I have been amazed at how well my garden has survived.
Last year one day of +40 degree heat saw one of my silver birch trees frizzle and drop all their leaves. The tree only recovered this spring.

Given that all three of my beautiful silver birch trees are looking ok after four days of searing heat makes me aware of how the soil and wind conditions matter.
This spring has been wet, with 2011 & 2013 also being wet. Obviously the water table underground is a lot healthier than in the previous 15 years of drought conditions. I can see this with the crack in the garage wall now closed when previously it was several cm's wide.
I have also been watering the tree regularly (which makes me suspect that last year it wasn't watered enough when I was on holiday!).

The other difference is the wind.
Over the last three days (and even now) we have had a gentle, though very hot breeze.

My memory of Black Saturday in 2009 is a searing gale. My friend celebrated her 60th Birthday inside a small Melbourne terrace house, instead of outside in the park. When driving back home we were aware not only of the strong gusty change but also of the fires at Seymour, Marysville and Churchill areas.

Currently, our Emergency personnel are battling lots of smaller fires in exceedingly difficult conditions. But fortunately, not the catastrophic conditions of 2009. I hope for all our sakes it doesn't get that way when the change arrives tonight.
But hats off to all those people working in the front-line. Fire brigade and volunteers, police, doctors & nurses, ambulance people. They do a great job and I'm deeply appreciative.
All public servants too!
Try this heatwave tracker animation from the ABC

Heatwave Melbourne

Take care in the heat today and tomorrow.

From 22 degrees C this morning at approx 6:30 pm the temperature has climbed to 33 degrees Celsius by 9:30 am.

The forecast top of 43 degrees looks very likely to be broken. 109 degrees F is seriously hot for Melbourne in January.

I can handle one day of this heat, but I will see how I perform after 4 days!

Remember the 1939 Black Friday bushfires occurred under similar temperatures. This year we have had a wet spring so hopefully the vegetation is not so vulnerable to bushfires.

Residents in WA Perth Hills are in shock with the loss of houses yesterday. Good luck to them in trying to return to their properties in the next day or so.

Serenity for the hot week ahead

To encourage me to feel calm and collected for the heat-wave about to hit Melbourne this week, I took a photo of some lovely water lilies.
Hopefully floating in a pond will mean they won't be too stressed by the >41 degree C heat forecast for Tuesday.
A heatwave that will cause much distress among some of our population.

Angry Summer Report

Labelled the "Angry Summer", this report from the Climate Commission details the heat experienced during the recent Australian Summer.

This week, the notional start of Autumn, is predicted to be above 30 degrees Celsius the whole week. While my water tanks are now nearly full, from a moderate rainfall on the 27th February, we will still be watering for a large part of March. My family in NZ are doing the same as our weather wafts across the Tasman Sea to provide drought conditions in the North Island of New Zealand.

As our confident Coalition plans the axing of the Carbon Tax, China is experimenting with an Emissions Trading Scheme reported to cover 250 million people.
I hope their scheme is successful because that may actually have a small effect in ameliorating the increasing energy in the climate system from global warming.

The Executive Summary of "Carbon Markets and Climate Policy in China", Oct 2012 for the Climate Institute by Climate Bridge, indicates that "China has reduced its energy intensity, become a world leader in renewable energy, and is rapidly establishing carbon trading systems. These actions not only have positive impact on the climate, they also drive economic growth, reduce fuel dependency and create export 
opportunities. "

Something Australia needs also to do.
Does this weather make you angry? 

Post holiday musings

Now that I'm back in the real world rather than inhabiting Middle-Earth its time to muse on the climate I found while exploring Hobbit Holes in Hobbiton, Matamata (New Zealand).
I spent 21 days on holidays - only 1 rainy day and 1 cloudy day. The hills throughout the North Island of New Zealand were parched and the stone fruit had ripened a couple of weeks earlier than normal.

View from Bag End, Hobbiton, AKA Alexander Farm, Matamata, New Zealand. The tourist venue has been watered constantly this summer to keep it green.

While I was away, Melbourne sweltered through 15 days of above 30 degrees C weather, also with little rain. The Bureau of Metereology claims its "been the hottest summer yet" a reason why I went south in February to escape the grinding heat. Although floods occurred in Queensland and NSW  "Victoria had its driest summer since 1984-85 and South Australia since 1985-86."

So in this election year, what will the people of Australia decide - a Carbon Tax or "Direct Action"? What will happen to the Greens if the Coalition wins, as the polls plummet for the current Federal Government. Long months of hysteria and politicking to go.

So have a look at the Soil Carbon report by Radio National Background Briefing a couple of days ago.

Given how much we continue to despoil our soil and vegetation with the ever increasing population, industrial farming techniques and climate change, I"m skeptical. 

I've also ordered "Earthmasters" by Clive Hamilton for my library - another book to read and be horrified by - Geo-engineering!

Yes, I have now caught up with restocking and cleaning the house - the "boys" didn't do too badly considering!

Fires, Heat, Water : Summer in Melbourne

Another 40 plus degrees C day yesterday. Not surprisingly there are now more fires in Victoria, with many still burning uncontrolled in NSW.
A friend snapped a couple of photos from Sale, Victoria. Note the eerie sky colours and hot pink sun!.

As a result of the heatwave, water usage has shot up. Melbourne Water reports the storage drop is double the summer average (Jan 17 report). This is not surprising as we have only recorded 3mm this month. It makes you wonder why the Water Restrictions were lifted in Spring last year.
However, this is one thing that no State Government can get right. If the restrictions weren't lifted then there would have been complaints given the near full water storages. But as the extreme heat has started earlier and rain has dried up, people are needing to use water to keep their gardens alive. So it will be interesting to see if there needs to be changes in the Water Restrictions by the end of the Summer period.

Spring heat wave in Melbourne

Melbourne has done it again - a heatwave in November. The last week we have had above 30 degrees C weather. The change has been lightning fast - almost wintry one day and heatwave the next. The forecast for the next few days shows no real relief in sight - Friday 31, Saturday 34, Sunday 31, a cool Monday 27 (wait this will change upwards), Tuesday 28 and Wed 33.
So it was fortuitous that the air conditioning was put in. With a guest staying upstairs, the house has now absorbed the outside heat and is lovely and warm in the early morning, and hot as hell by 6pm. At least the heat dissipates later in the evening unlike during January/February when its still >30 after midnight and sleep is almost impossible.
My water bill arrived yesterday - higher than last year - not entirely certain why but probably more showers particularly as we had to put one of our old shower heads back on (instead of the water saving one) as the kids were complaining of not getting enough flow or cold water only. This would almost be acceptable now but not during September.
And I am still waiting, impatiently, for my Solar Power panels to be installed!! Frustrating to have the delay when there are new installations sprouting on roofs all around me. I went for a walk last Friday and spotted another 6 houses in a small area with the panels.When am I going to get satisfied?? I don't know says the company, they're really, really busy. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Heatwave and chaos

Melbourne's latest heatwave caused chaos in the city. Trains were cancelled, power went out throughout the city, people went crazy from the heat as well as the normal pressures of life.
We were exceedingly fortunate. With newly installed ceiling fans, closed blinds and wet T-shirts we were able to keep the house to an almost reasonable 31 degrees on the last 45 degree Celsius day.
My poor garden was not so lucky. Now the silver birch tree has dropped many of its leaves following a severe burn. Many other deciduous trees in the local streets are also brown and the drift of leaves in the hot winds adds to the feeling of extreme heat stress.
My water tanks are nearly empty after 30 odd days without rain. However, the tomatoes have survived (with sunburn) and also the sweet corn. So far the Camellias look okay but the Correa groundcover has nothing but crisped branchlets.

Oh I wish for the money to invest in photovoltaic panels to hook up to an air conditioner!!! Then we wouldn't have to worry so much about extreme heat and power blackouts. My house is designed to be more passive solar with eaves that keep the sun off the windows in summer.

A big cheer also to various emergency services people who were slaving in the heat to douse fires nearby, fix broken traffic lights (bad accident) and various other life saving events.