ACIAR cuts its electricity usage and installs solar panels

Newly installed rainwater tanks and 48 solar panels help make ACIAR House more energy effiecient.

The Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Mr Bob McMullan, today congratulated all ACIAR staff for their efforts to reduce electricity consumption and their decision to install a 48 panel solar facility.

Under these initiatives, ACIAR has cut its annual electricity consumption by more than 25 per cent with a staff commitment to turning lights off when not needed, using fewer, more energy-efficient lights and paying attention to the settings on its air-conditioning system. As part of its ongoing computer system upgrades, ACIAR has reconfigured its hardware to a more energy efficient system.

Just before Christmas, ACIAR installed 48 solar panels that are now supplying around 7 per cent of ACIAR’s electricity requirements. This is the third largest operating solar facility in the ACT.

Under its energy efficiency initiatives, ACIAR has cut its electricity consumption from 292,391 kWh in 2005-06 to 222,120 kWh in 2007-08, and the prediction is for 2008-09 consumption to be below 2007-08 levels. ACIAR’s target is to reduce its gross electricity consumption below 200,000 kWh’s in 2009-10.

ACIAR's energy consumption

ACIAR's climate change research

Climate change is impacting throughout Asia, with shifts in rainfall patterns, changing temperature regimes and increased climate variability. Since many Asian economies depend on agriculture more than developed countries, and have less resilient institutions, they are more susceptible to climate change. The poorest farmers bear the brunt of climate change because they live in the more vulnerable areas. Changes in the quantity and timing of rainfall due to climate change are likely to be felt more immediately than temperature shifts and as such require more immediate attention.

ACIAR has to date maintained a diverse portfolio of projects relating to prediction of seasonal climate variability, adaptation of farming systems and research in GHG emissions and agricultural mitigation. In 2008-09, ACIAR is building on this existing project portfolio by establishing a dedicated ACIAR Climate Change Initiative built around:

Adaptation to climate change

This is the main thrust of the initiative and emphasises adaptation to climate change, with a particular focus on more efficient use of water resources. It will include interventions based on field experimentation, selection of new varieties. On-farm crop modelling will develop sustainable and productive enhanced crop rotation systems that are better matched to shifting rainfall regimes.

Improving climate forecasting will be critical in enabling location-specific recommendations for development of more resilient cropping systems.

Better use of residual moisture, late-season rainfall or limited supplementary irrigation makes it possible to produce more food by growing a second or third crop in situations where land would otherwise be fallow for many months.

Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture

This will include reducing energy use in farming through adoption of conservation farming systems. Conservation farming, which conserves stubble after the harvest of crops, has additional benefits through enhancing sequestration of carbon in agricultural soils. Opportunities to reduce emissions from crop and livestock production will be explored. ACIAR is also funding research into better livestock management practices and integration into farming systems.

Policy research

At the household level, one of the key drivers for uptake of climate change innovations are improved productivity and reduced costs. However, there are many policies that discourage uptake, such as subsidies on fertilisers and preferential subsidisation of water intensive crops such as rice and sugar cane. These disincentives need to be addressed by sound policy analysis.

In addition, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture is currently being discussed in several countries for inclusion under emissions trading schemes. How such schemes can be made to deliver incentives at the farm level under smallholder developing country situations is a major area requiring research.

Work will also be undertaken on water allocation and water policy analysis at sub-basin or basin scale.