Business decisions related to climate change

[McLovin]

Is that a guarantee ?

Nothing is a guarantee. But there's a little more covering the scenario than the balance sheets of QBE, IAG and Suncorp.

 

[basilio]

It would be interesting to see what funds are available to cover a truly catastrophic event in a major first world city.

And then a couple more elsewhere ? Wildfires in California ? Hurricanes in New York ? Widespread flooding in Louisiana ? It takes months/years to process these events.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/natural-disasters

 

[McLovin]

It would be interesting to see what funds are available to cover a truly catastrophic event in a major first world city.

And then a couple more elsewhere ? Wildfires in California ? Hurricanes in New York ? Widespread flooding in Louisiana ? It takes months/years to process these events.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/natural-disasters

Most of the damage in major natural disasters is not covered by insurance, either because the insurer won't accept the risk, the premiums or excess are too high for the insuree, or because it's public infrastructure that is, to a large degree, self insured by the government. In California for instance, which is a state that's been waiting for the next big quake for decades, only 15% of homeowners have earthquake insurance. The tsunami in Japan in 2011 had a damage bill between ~$210b-$300b but the insured losses were less than $50b.

 

[orr]

the following are two articals in the last three days from NYtimes relevant to some serious investment decisions by US based companies, Apple in Walmart included;

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/b...r-own-green-utility-sources.html?ref=business

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/23/s...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Anybody out there keen to use SloMo for a 'superfund' Financial adviser? or any adviser for that matter....

 

[Joules MM1]

Solar Startup Born in a Garage Is Beating China to Cheaper Panels

Australia-based SunDrive has made a materials breakthrough that promises to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of solar panels.

www.bloomberg.com

excerpt:
the company he co-founded in 2015 based on this research, proved this week that it has produced one of the most efficient solar cells of all time, according to a leading independent testing laboratory. And SunDrive did so with copper as the metal at the core.

 

[basilio]

Solar Startup Born in a Garage Is Beating China to Cheaper Panels

Australia-based SunDrive has made a materials breakthrough that promises to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of solar panels.

www.bloomberg.com

excerpt:
the company he co-founded in 2015 based on this research, proved this week that it has produced one of the most efficient solar cells of all time, according to a leading independent testing laboratory. And SunDrive did so with copper as the metal at the core.

This is a fantastic story. Reflects well on the capacity of individual "garage" type people to make big advances in technology.
Mind you the main players are also science PhD graduates.

 

[sptrawler]

This is a fantastic story. Reflects well on the capacity of individual "garage" type people to make big advances in technology.
Mind you the main players are also science PhD graduates.

Good story Joules and Bas, here is a free view article on the same subject, hopefully we develop the manufacturing capacity here again.
BP shut its Sydney solar panel manufacturing plant in 2009, to relocate it to cheap labour cost countries, hopefully there is a rethink.

Australian start-up sets 25.54% efficiency record for silicon cell

Australian start-up SunDrive has created the most effective commercial-sized silicon solar cell in the world, achieving an efficiency figure of 25.54% in testing carried out by the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Germany.

www.pv-magazine-australia.com

 

[moXJO]

New batteries. Video of them heating a battery up to 700 degrees and keeps working (light stays on).

University spin-out Gelion to make next-gen batteries in Sydney

With Gelion batteries, Professor Thomas Maschmeyer is turning foundational science into commercial solutions to meet the challenges of the renewable energy transition.

www.sydney.edu.au

 

[mullokintyre]

Solar Startup Born in a Garage Is Beating China to Cheaper Panels

Australia-based SunDrive has made a materials breakthrough that promises to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of solar panels.

www.bloomberg.com

excerpt:
the company he co-founded in 2015 based on this research, proved this week that it has produced one of the most efficient solar cells of all time, according to a leading independent testing laboratory. And SunDrive did so with copper as the metal at the core.

Sun drive was mentioned in dispatches the other day, where it got a cool billion in Fed funding., but can't compete with Chinese panels and i closing manufacturing in OZ and shifting off shore.
Mick

 

[mullokintyre]

Today I was at an Ag meeting where the speaker was talking about water.
One of the things he said was that Australian farmers have become about 300 times more efficient in their use of water over the last forty years.
We now use about half the amount of irrigation water we did in the 1980's, but produce about twice as much output.
Not a bad effort.
But one of the most startling things was the presenter who talked about the emergence of localised private weather forecasting.
During his presentation, he asked the audience how many farmers were now bypassing the BOM and using private weather forecasters.
Much to my surprise , somewhere between 40% and 60% of attendees put their hands to acknowledge they have lost trust in the BOM long term and short term forecasts.

Mick

 

[IFocus]

Today I was at an Ag meeting where the speaker was talking about water.
One of the things he said was that Australian farmers have become about 300 times more efficient in their use of water over the last forty years.
We now use about half the amount of irrigation water we did in the 1980's, but produce about twice as much output.
Not a bad effort.
But one of the most startling things was the presenter who talked about the emergence of localised private weather forecasting.
During his presentation, he asked the audience how many farmers were now bypassing the BOM and using private weather forecasters.
Much to my surprise , somewhere between 40% and 60% of attendees put their hands to acknowledge they have lost trust in the BOM long term and short term forecasts.

Mick

Long been the case in farming (weather forecasting) and a lot of other areas, as for changes in tech where today we get bumper crops in WA my mob 4th generational farmers often lament how framing practices in their day wouldn't fly now due to the changes in climate.