RANS SCAN - Western Australian Planning Commission - The ...

TRANS SCAN
TA global scan of emerging trends in mobility and the built environment
Volume 11 Number 1 September 2010
RANS SCAN
Cover illustration by Wind Power Ltd
Could machines like this reshape
what happens on the roads?
IF transport is switched to electricity for its main
source of power then machines like this could be
the generators. The artist’s impression shows the
latest advance in offshore wind turbines - the Aerogenerator
X. It has been developed over the last 18
months by a consortium of UK research organizations
with backing by Rolls Royce, the Arup engineering
group and major oil companies. Its main proponent,
Wind Power Ltd*, is hoping to have the first 10MW
prototype in operation by 2013. An earlier version
was shown in TransScan in April 2008 but as the new
picture shows, the Aerogenerator has undergone a radical
makeover - particularly in the shape of its muchsimplified
blades. The idea is not to present a sleeker
looking turbine. The main purpose of the horizontal
axis is overcome both high cost and fatigue problems
of operating conventional upright turbines in a rigorous
deep-sea environment.
Read more about trends in mobility on pages 16 to 19
*
The big shift to ‘green’ building is not only environmental: Pages 3-9
Department of Planning
Main Roads Western Australia,
and Department of Transport
TRANS SCAN is prepared quarterly
by Strategic Scan and two agencies
of the Western Australian Government

Volume 11 • Number 1 • September 2010
ISSN 1440 - 8996
T RANS SCAN
A global scan of emerging trends in mobility
and the built environment
Website:
TransScan is an initiative of the
Department of Planning, Main Roads WA
and Department of Transport
and is produced by
Strategic Scan
PO Box 1484
Victoria Park East
Perth, Western Australia 6981
Tel/Fax: (08) 9362 6248
Email: scanasia@highway1.com.au
For information about distribution, please contact:
TransScan is available in alternative formats to assist people
who are unable to read this version.Initial
requests should be made to
Strategic Scan (Tel: 08 9362 6248)
Editorial Committee:
Chairman
John Chortis, Department of Planning
Tel: 9264 7777
Members
Dr Fiona McKenzie,
Housing and Urban Research Institute WA
Tel: 9266 1087
Dr Joseph Patroni, Department of Commerce
Tel: 9222 3333
Kathryn Martin, Main Roads WA
Tel: 9323 4246
George Brown, Department of Planning
Tel: 9216 8486
Des Lock, Main Roads WA
Tel: 9323 4185
Peter Terry, Strategic Scan
Tel: 9362 6248
Disclaimer
Strategic Scan takes all reasonable care in the preparation of this
document which represents the results of scanning and analysis
over the past three months from sources listed within, but accepts
no responsibility for any loss which may be sustained by any person
or organisation that relies on information in this document.
Contents
TransScan reports a variety of views. None are
necessarily those of the publishers.
Overview:
• An offshore machine that could reshape
what happens on the roads 1
Trends in green construction 3-9
• Nolonger just ‘dumb designs and
smart gadgets’ 3-9
• How Perth plans to set new green standards 4
• Power - with a mythical touch of Narnia 5
• Is Australia home to the world’s greenest
office building? 7
Safety & health 10-12
• Glasses that decide if you are fit to drive 10
• Britain ‘experiments’ with a
speed camera turn-off 10
• Can technology eliminate ‘physical’
road barriers? 11
• Resilience & recovery 12-15
• Finding better ways to manage disaster 12-15
• Victoria’s bushfire report 13-14
• No-go development zones? 14
EVENTS up-date 15
Trends in mobility 16-19
• Is LNG the awy to keep freight moving? 16-17
• Germany developing a new green transit 17
TRANSNet - Internet update 19
Advances in remote sensing 20
• How radar imigery is offering
new ways to track events 20
About TransScan
TransScan monitors change world-wide and is based
on analysis of information scanned by staff of the
Department of Planning, Main Roads WA, the Department
of Transport, the Department of Commerce
and the research organisation, Strategic Scan. The
aim is to stimulate the informed discussion necessary
for the agencies to operate more effectively in a
period of rapid change. The subject matter will often challenge
assumptions. At the same time it seeks to familiarise
readers with an ever-changing environment. It is not
possible to predict tomorrow, but it is possible to make
calculated assessments about the future. Fundamental to
this approach is the recognition that the future is here now.
When decisions are made on what is thought the future will
bring, those decisions help shape that future. Information
which appears in TransScan does not represent definitive
research. The contents are the result of a scan made in
the past few months. On an ongoing basis, such scans will
expose ever more new and emerging themes.

Heat in the city
TransScan 3
Infrared image by Fraunhofer IMS
Trends in green construction
THE decision to build a new $2.6 billion urban precinct on Perth’s
river foreshore will introduce to the city an unprecedented level of
“green” office and “green” housing design. (See page 4) Here in the
first of a two-part series*, guest writer Oenone Rooksby reviews the
broader trends in going green - and finds the benefits are more than
environmental.
Nolonger just ‘dumb designs
and smart gadgets’
THE building sector is an
extraordinary consumer
of resources. According
to the Green Building Council
of Australia, it uses 40% of the
world’s energy, 32% of its resources,
generates 40% of landfill
and emits 40% of all greenhouse
gases. But change is happening
- and rapidly. Internationally, the
* The next edition of TransScan
will look at ways architects are
going beyond “saving energy”
to make buildings greener.
green building market is expected
to expand from $US12 billion in
2008 to $US60 billion in 2010(1)
and close to 30% of the new
buildings in the Asia Pacific are
expected to be green by 2015.(2)
One of the “greenest” ever built
is already in operation in Australia
(see page 7) and is helping to
demonstrate that such commercial
buildings are a significant
and cost effective way to achieve
greenhouse gas reductions using
existing technologies.(3)
In Western Australia,
Continued next page
A full-colour
look at city
temperature
NEW ways of seeing
what makes cities
hot - through the
lens of a new infrared camera
developed in Germany.
Until now such cameras
were primarily for military
use but the Fraunhofer
Institute for Microelectronic
Circuits and Systems in Duisburg*
has just developed
one that could open up a
range of civilian applications.
Initially the aim was
to use it to improve motorists’
night vision. But in refining
the technology, other
uses are emerging - like
pinpointing hot spots in fires
and helping find fire victims.
As the image above shows,
it can also identify hotspots
in the streetscape.
*

4
TransScan
Trends in green construction
Above and below artist’s impressions of “Waterbank” courtesy of EPRA.
How Perth plans to set
new green standards
A
SERIES of major regeneration projects planned for Perth
will not just transform the city’s appearance but place it at
the forefront of green design. All the projects require high
environmental standards and developers bidding for the latest section
of regeneration, “Waterbank” pictured above and below, will
have to meet either 5 or 6 Star standards on the Green Star rating
table. The Green Building Council of Australia (a) which administers
the rating system describes 6 Star as signifying “world leadership”
in environmentally sustainable design and/or construction”.
Tony Morgan, CEO of the East Perth Redevelopment Authority (b),
the government agency administering the projects told TransScan
that the authority adopted a green building design policy in 2009 and
green designs were now needed for all EPRA redevelopment areas.
“A minimum 6 Green Star rating is required for Waterbank’s landmark
30-storey building, which is likely to include both residential
and commercial developments,” he said. “A minimum 5 Green Star
rating is required for the remaining buildings which are also mixed
use and range from 3-20 stories.” Currently EPRA has more than 53
hectares of regeneration projects in preparation within Perth’s inner
city area and most are designed for a minimum 5 Star Green rating.
“When completed they will significantly boost the stock of environmentally
sustainable buildings in WA,” Mr Morgan said.
(a) Green Building Council of Australia
(b) EPRA
Continued from previous page
the new foreshore development
planned for East Perth will also
place new focus on the benefits of
green design. (See story left.)
Around the world, the last
few years has seen all sections of
the green building industry refine
products and add innovation to
the design process. Many of the
trends relate to one of two overarching
themes. Firstly, there is
the increasingly common catch
cry of the “low hanging fruit”,
which many argue has been overlooked
and is potentially going
to waste, rotting on the vine so
to say. Secondly, there is a sense
that many in the industry are upping
the ante, questioning the
very concept of what constitutes
green building, both in relation to
standards and scope.
Cheaper technologies
In the case of “low hanging
fruit” much of the focus has
been on encouraging and enabling
stakeholders to make use of
existing and cheaper techniques,
resources and technologies.
Firstly there appears to
have been a backlash against
what one architect, Lance Hosey
describes as “dumb design with
smart gadgets”. His article “Sustainable
design is more than bells
and whistles”(4), is one of many
that argues for getting back to
basics and employ passive techniques
to their full potential before
turning to technology.(5)
More retrofits
Secondly, there has been
a greater focus on green retrofits
and renovations over new green
construction. A recent report predicts
that the retrofit market will
account for 20 to 30% of all commercial
projects by 2014.(6) In
Australia, this year’s RMIT Green
Building and Design Conference
is entitled “Greening the existing
building stock”(7), while the City
of Melbourne has announced it
intends to retrofit two thirds of its
Continued page 6

TransScan 5
Trends in green construction
Illustration by Heatherwick Studio
SOON to dominate the old industrial banks of England’s River Tees, a power station shapped like a mystical castle.
Power - with a mythical touch of Narnia
POWER stations don’t
have to be ugly. The one
pictured here - just given
planning approval by the town of
Stockton-on-Tees in England’s
northeast - is described by The
Independent’s architecture correspondent
Jay Merrick as “taking
British power stations into the
Bilbao Guggenheim league of
architectural icons”. (a)
When operational in
2013, the new 49 MW sustainable
biomass themal power generator
could become an icon for
clean energy too. (b) Its proponents,
Bio Energy Investments
Ltd, say it will produce enough
electricity to power more than
50,000 homes and do so with carbon
emissions at 80% less than a
conventional coal-fired station.
Nonetheless, the chosen
fuel will have a long way to
travel. It is being shipped from
Malaysia - thousands of tonnes of
pine kernel shells left over from
palm oil production. The shells
will be carried up the River Tees
directly by ship to what is today a
flat, overgrown, brownfields site.
According to BEI the visual appearance
of the power station has
been the driving force in the design.
The company says it wants
to create a “truly modern and
exemplar building, which will
challenge the way that power stations
are currently designed and
built when viewed from an urban
area.”
The architects, Heatherwick
Studio (c), is the same
company that design the UK
Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo
and London’s remarkable “Rolling
Bridge” - an award-winning
footbridge that with the help of
an hydraulic jack, curls into an
octagonal to let canal craft go by.
At Teeside, Heatherwick has designed
the new power station so
that all its operating
equipment is enclosed
behind an earth mound
stretching up to 12
metres high. (See diagram
right) The effect
is not unlike a castle
of Narnia - minus the
odd mountain. But
rather than provide
an instant filmset, the
benefit is to keep noise
to a minimum - and
create a green iconic
landmark. The power
station will occupy
Illustration by
Heatherwick Studio
just a third of the four hectare site.
The plan is to cover the remainder
with grassland and eventually
the flora and fauna that used to be
there before industry arrived.
(a) “Station to station: the new power
generation” by Jay Merrick The Independent
5 Aug 2010
(b) “Innovative design for a new age in
power” briefing paper by Bio Energy
Investments Ltd (BEI) March 2010
(c) Heatherwick Studio website

6
TransScan
Trends in green
construction
Continued from page 4
Photo by BWTC
WIND turbines straddle the
50-floor twin towers of the
Bahrain World Trade
Center.* When built in 2008,
the skyscraper was the first in
the world to integrate wind
turbines into its design. On an
average day, the three turbines
operate for about 12 hours
generating enough power to
meet up to 15% of the building’s
annual electricity needs.
*
existing building stock in a large
scale sustainability initiative.(8)
For the most part green
retrofitting involves fairly mundane
alterations. Commonly
these include installing more efficient
lighting and water fixtures,
updating HVAC (Heating, Ventilating,
and Air Conditioning)
systems, increasing insulation
and adding external sun shading
devices.
In many ways the retrofitting
trend is borne of necessity.
The global financial crisis forced
many property developers to defer
or cancel new projects and
turn instead to retrofits that cost
significantly less and have much
shorter payback periods.
But the benefits can be
considerable. For example, many
argue that because of the embodied
energy within existing structures,
such retrofits on average
reduce energy consumption by
30% and can easily reduce it by
more than 50%. Consequently,
the potentially positive environmental
impact of green retrofitting
far outweighs that of new
green construction.(9)
New focus on operation
This increased focus on
the existing building stock has
brought with it a concern for the
efficiency of the building in operation,
as opposed to its efficiency
as designed or as constructed.
From November this
year, all commercial offices in
Australia over 2000sqm will have
to disclose a National Australian
Built Environment Rating System
(NABERS)(10) report upon
sale or lease.(11) These regulations
are designed to encourage
not only green retrofitting, but
also the more regular recommissioning
of the wider building
stock.
Last year New York
passed a new bill that every ten
years requires owners of largescale
properties to conduct energy
efficiency audits and have their
buildings retro-commissioned
and recalibrated to as-designed
performance levels.
More and more building
operators are avoiding the need
for such isolated but large scale
commissioning by employing
increasingly advanced Building
Management Systems (BMS)
that combine hard and soft ware
technology to monitor and adjust
their facilities’ operations and
services. (12)
Programs such as the
Mediator by Cisco Systems and
BuildingIQ Energy Management
System by CSIRO use sensors
and meters to illustrate operations
in real time, integrate numerous
service platforms and interact
with and respond to the demands
of facility managers and even everyday
occupants. As such, they
can not only pinpoint and alert
building managers to potential
technological problems as they
occur, they can also record, display,
analyse and respond to resource
consumption levels in relation
to season, occupancy rates
and declared levels of comfort,
business productivity and output,
and floors or even tenancies. According
to recent research, water
and energy consumption can be
reduced by 30-40% once usage
patterns are understood.(13)
Such systems are meant
to ensure that not only does the
building operate as intended but
also that the occupant uses the
building as it was intended.
Differences in practice
Recently, a report by the
US Green Building Council (US-
GBC) found a difference of more
than 100% between what architects
and engineers had originally
calculated would be the energy
consumption of a building and
its actual post-occupancy energy
usage one year after construction.
(14)
Many explain the discrepancy
as being due to the unpredictable
and inefficient behaviour
of the building’s occupant.
As a result, greater focus is now
being given to understanding and
integrating the needs, desires,
idiosyncrasies and weaknesses of
building users.
Other organisations like
the Green Building Council of
Australia (GBCA) believe that
the emphasis should be on education
and behaviour modification
rather than automation. It wants to
see the use of real time, itemised
and public display of consump-
Continued next page

TransScan 7
Continued from previous page
tion levels in relation to targets
and the performance of others as
a tool for education and the instigation
of cultural change.(15)
Such thinking informs
the University of Adelaide’s new
development, Innova 21. It is the
first educational building to be
awarded 6 stars and the designers
have deliberately made all its
BMS data available to students
and the public so that it provides
an ongoing onsite educational
example of environmental practices.(16)
All this indicates that the
computer simulated modelling of
buildings, via cross platform software
like Autodesk’s Revit, has
not yet fully integrated occupant
related data, such as visual and
thermal “comfortmetrics”, into its
environmental assessments. Nevertheless,
such software is enabling
a more integrated, holistic
approach to building design, construction
and maintenance. Better
and earlier communication and
coordination between the various
“teams” involved in a building
over its lifetime, design, service,
structural, construction, facility
management etc. was found by a
recent study to be essential to a
successful green outcome.
No more oversizing?
One common example of
this is the avoidance of the types
of “rule-of thumb” assumptions
that encourage oversizing, which
has led to the creation of HVAC
equipment that is 15-25% larger
than needed in over 70% of building
stock. This is enabled by cross
platform communication between
not only the design, services and
structural teams, but also by facility
managers, who can provide
essential data on a building’s energy
usage patterns.(17)
This is altering the contractual
arrangements of the industry.
The design build model
is becoming increasingly popular
Continued next page
Trends in green construction
The Pixel building - photo by Grocon
Is Australia home to the world’s
greenest office building?
EVERSINCE Melbourne’s Pixel building opened in July, a
steady stream of government and property representatives
have been visiting to find out how it works. “For us its an
exemplar,” says Jane Wilson of property developer, Grocon. “It
could be scaled up into a much bigger building and achieve similar
results.”
In the next few months it will be known for certain whether the
extraordinary carbon neutral office building on Swanston Street is
the “greenest” of its type in the world. It has already collected a 6
Green Star rating with the highest score ever awarded by the Green
Building Council of Australia and by the end of the year it will have
been assessed under similar US and UK rating systems to see if it
can exceed the highest scores yet given internationally. (a)
Under the Australian 6 Star rating, Pixel actually achieved
an unprecedented perfect score of 100 point - five of them being
for innovation and equating to “world leadership”. Pixel is now
the project office for Grocon’s $1 billion redevelopment of the old
Carlton Brewery site. The architects were Studio 505 who worked
with sustainability consultants, Umow Lai* who advised on the engineering
and energy saving systems. The four-storey building cost
$6 million and any carbon emissions it produces are offset by the
clean energy generated by the photovoltaic panels and wind turbines
installed on the roof.
* Interestingly Umow Lai has just fitted out its own office interior to a 6 Star
level and has reported a big improvement in staff productivity. The company had
the improvement measured by independent assessors who calculated productivity
had risen by 13%.
(a) “Pixel Gains Highest Green Star Score Ever” Grocon media statement 20 July
2010

8
TransScan
Trends in green construction
Continued from previous page
and is being even taken further
with the increasingly cooperative
stance of the insurance, finance,
development and real estate sectors
towards the green building
industry, a development no doubt
encouraged by the reassurance of
a green outcome given by BIM.
A recent example of
this integration is “The Gauge”
in Melbourne. According to the
Green Building Council of Australia,
this project by Lend Lease
has effectively utilised its “cross
business synergies”, to not only
create a six star design, but also
to prove the financial case for
green building.(18)
Integration within the
green building industry is also occurring
on a larger scale, amongst
NGOs and between them and regulatory
bodies. The advent of the
World Green Building Council
(WGBC) and the development of
regional committees such as that
of the Asia Pacific(19) indicate
an increasingly global approach
to green building, encouraging
the sharing of information and
resources especially between developing
and developed nations.
Similarly although the
world’s major rating systems
- Britain’s BREEAM (Building
Research Establishment Environmental
Assessment Method) and
the US LEED (Leadership in Energy
& Environmental Design)
- all have different standards and
definitions for green buildings
they have recently signed a MOU
to create a common carbon metric.(20)
Perhaps it is such cooperation
that is giving advocates the
courage and resources to raise the
bar for the industry.
Defining ‘green’
Today there is also increased
scrutiny on what really
constitutes green building. There
has been a move away from the
current model of “doing less
harm” particularly in energy use
and towards a model of “neutrality”
that strives for net zero emissions
and consumption.
Pixel, in Melbourne is
an example of this model.(21)
(see page 3) More radically has
been the move towards a “regenerative”
model of green design.
These are called “Living Buildings”
and such structures are not
only designed to “do no harm”
but they also actively and positively
contribute to their environment.(22)
The Oregon Sustainability
Center is considered one of
the first of this type of “living”
office buildings.
Energy has always been
a primary concern of green designs
and in co- and tri-generation
systems increasing use is being
made of “wasted” energy to
provide power for both heating
and cooling, and operating at efficiencies
of up to 90%.(23)
But as mentioned, there
is also a focus on creating energy
rather than reducing it. Renewable
sources are increasingly popular
and solar power continues to
dominate the market.
Largely because of nanotechnology,
photovoltaics are
becoming ever more efficient and
flexible. Products such as Solar-
Continued next page
A solution to ‘instant greening’ is out of the bag
RETROFITTING existing buildings
with roof gardens could do much to
reduce the “heat dome” effect of cities.
In London, for example, there is no less
than 24,000 ha of roofs ripe for greening
- which is where “Pocket Habitat”* comes
in. The new product (left) is especially designed
for a roof retrofit.
The makers describe their “pockets”
as “stand-alone units made from environmentally
friendly material and containing
recycled substrates and wildflower seeds”.
But customers can specify what plants they
would prefer and can even turn their roofs
into vegetable patches. The UK marketers
- Arup and Sky-Gardens - say the size and
weight of the “pockets” allows installation
without cranes or specialist equipment.
Photo by Arup
*

Continued from previous page
Ivy are even turning photovoltaics
into architectural features
to be displayed on walls rather
than hidden on roofs.(24) They
are also being further integrated
into the construction process
with photovoltaics emerging as
roof shingles, tiles and windowpanes.
The international market
for wind power grew 10% last
year despite the hard economic
TransScan 9
Trends in green construction
climate.(25) Micro turbines for
individual buildings were especially
popular, due to advances
that have made them smaller,
lighter, quieter and more efficient
in lower winds.
Nonetheless, aesthetics
as well as the practical limitations
of micro turbines has inhibited
their market share. This may
change with renowned designers
like Philippe Starke entering the
industry with his “Revolutionair
WT”, a sleek vertical micro
turbine that is virtually invisible
once on the roof. Others like the
Bahrain wind towers (see photo
page 6.) are making turbines an
architectural feature.
Perhaps the most important
development in the sector
is the realisation that there is no
silver bullet and that the various
forms of energy generation
should be combined for optimal
efficiency.
References:
(1)“Environmentally Sustainable Buildings: Challenges and Policies. Executive Summary” The OECD Environment Programme
2003
(2)“Green Buildings - A Strategic Analysis of the Asia Pacific Markets”, Frost and Sullivan October 2009
(3)“The Second Plank. Building a Low Carbon Economy with Energy Efficient Buildings” by Australian Built Environment
Council September 2008
(4)“Gizmo Green. Sustainable Design Deserves More than Bells and Whistles” by Lance Hosey Architect January 2010
(5)“The Pragmatic Approach To Green Design. Achieving LEED Certification from an Architect’s Perspective” by Lucy Williams
in the Journal of Green Building Winter 2010
(6) “SmartMarket Report: Green Building Retrofit & Renovation” by McGraw Hill Construction October 2009
(7)Green Building and Design Conference 2010. Greening The Existing Building Stock
(8)1200 Buildings
(9)“Energy Efficiency Retrofits for Commercial and Public Buildings” Pike Research 2010
(10)NABERS
(11)“Building Energy Disclosure Bill 2010. Explanatory Memorandum” June 2010
(12)“Building Commissioning. A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions” by Evan
Mills for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory July 2009
(13)“Energy and Water Monitoring for Existing Buildings” by Robin Archibald in Ecolibrium July 2009
(14) “Regional Green Building Case Study Project. A post-occupancy study of LEED projects in Illinois”, US Green Building
Council (USGBC) Chicago Chapter Fall 2009
(15)“Evolution 2010” Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) March 2010
(16)Design Inc
(17)“Innovating For Better Buildings Report. An Opportunity Disguised as a Meltdown” by Brian Walsh for The Nth Power
October 2009
(18)“The Gauge Achieves a 6 Star Green Star Rating” Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), May 2008
(19)World Green Building Council Asia Pacific Network
(20)“Common Carbon Metric” World Green Building Council 2010
(21)“PIXEL gains highest Green Star score ever” Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) July 2010
(22)International Living Building Institute
(23)Trigeneration Research Group Brunel University West London
(24)“‘Solar Ivy’ Photovoltaic Leaves Climb to New Heights” by Bridgette Meinhold for Inhabitat July 2009
(25)“AWEA Mid Year 2010 Market Report American Wind Energy Association July 2010

10
TransScan
Safety & health
Glasses that decide if you are fit to drive...
THESE are no ordinary pair of dark glasses. (right) Australian
company Optalert* developed them as a new safety device to
warn truck drivers if they show signs of fatigue. The device
itself comprises the driving glasses and a connected in-cab processor.
According to the company, the glasses use pulses of invisible light to
constantly measure driver drowsiness by detecting changes in eye and
eyelid movements. Every minute a score of between zero and ten is
displayed on a dash-mounted screen - with a higher score indicating
a higher level of drowsiness. For extra safety, the device emits a loud
beep and voice message if drowsiness is evident. According to Optalert,
the system has just been installed by Rockhampton-base Emerald
Carrying Company whose road tankers are contracted to transport
liquid fuel. The tankers are operating around Queensland’s Mackay
district where in the last year 12 people died in eight crashes attributed
to driver fatigue.
*
Photo by Optalert
Smart growth’s billion dollar side benefits
PLANNING cities for “smart
growth”* usually means
that infrastructure will be
cheaper, energy demand will be
less, vehicles will travel fewer
kilometres and that overall greenhouse
gas emission will drop. But
now researchers in California
have reworked local data to show
that the health benefits of smart
growth can be worth hundreds of
millions of dollars too.
For their basic data, the
researchers have taken figures
prepared for California’s new
strategic planning strategy (a)
and investigated the health benefits
that could be gained from
living in the type of cleaner environment
that smart growth should
bring.
They have calculated that
if the new strategy is followed,
then by 2035 smart growth should
* Footnote: “Smart growth” can
be defined as a theory of urban and
transport planning that focuses population
growth on central areas and
avoids sprawl.
have cut California’s air pollution
by more than 132,000 tonnes annually,
reduced avoidable premature
deaths by 140, caused
105,000 fewer asthma and respiratory
problems, and save 16,550
working days that would normally
have been lost to sickness.
The combined savings
to the community could top
$US1.66 billion. (b)
California’s new strategic
plan did not evaluate what
benefits might be had by creating
urban areas that encouraged walking,
cycling and easier access to
public transport. Instead the strategy’s
proponents emphasised the
benefits that smart growth would
have in cutting infrastructure expenditure
and lower living costs.
(The strategy report suggests average
household costs could fall
by $US6500 a year just because
people would need to make less
use of their cars.)
But the American Lung
Association, which investigated
the health impacts of the strategy,
said smart growth would offer
significant benefits over any business-as-usual
model.
It said air pollution would
be reduced so much that by 2035
Californians could expect 110-
260 fewer heart attacks, up to 115
fewer admissions to hospital.
(a) “Vision California - Charting
our future” http://www.visioncalifornia.org/reports.php
(b) American Lung Association media
statement 16 Sept 2010
AIR POLLUTION
Remote sensing
While Californians have been
investigating the cash benefits of
cleaner city life (see previous article)
scientists in Spain have been
working on a new remote device
that can accurately measure traffic
pollution. (c) Moreover, if the
device proves successful, the developers
are hoping it will be use-
Continued next page

Continued from previous page
ful in measuring pollution levels
in places where it might be dangerous
to send technicians. For
example, if it works well enough
on roads, it could be used to provide
instant feedback on bushfire
emissions, greenhouse gases rising
from waste dumps - and even
toxic gases pouring out of volcanoes.
According to Professor
Antonio de Castro who is leading
the research at Madrid’s Universidad
Carlos III, the device (pictured
below) uses infrared remote
sensing technology to analyse all
types of pollutants being created
by vehicles. “With this technique
all of the gases that have absorption
bands in the infrared can be
measured simultaneously,” Prof
de Castro said. “That means we
can look at almost all the gases
that are of environmental interest
- carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone,
methane, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide,
chlorhydric acid, etc.” He
said the object was to determine
the concentration of the chief gas
pollutants associated with motor
vehicle traffic. Currently the tests
are being conducted at road sites
in the towns of Villaviciosa de
Odón and Leganés.
(c) “New method for infrared remote
sensing to analyse traffic pollution”
Universidad Carlos III media statement
8 Sept 2010
ABOVE: Spain’s new road pollution
measuring device. Photo by Universidad
Carlos III de Madrid.
TransScan 11
Safety & health
Can technology eliminate
‘physical’ road barriers?
WOULD a simulated,
“virtual road barrier”
work as effectively as
the real thing? For example, if
your car started to “graze” the
unseen virtual barrier, your steering
wheel would start to vibrate.
If you continued to drive into the
virtual barrier, your car’s steering
would bounce you off. It may
sound science fiction, but the
concept is already being tested in
Norway. (1)
The idea started as an
electronic version of the “rumble
strip” - the corrugated road marking
strips used by some Australian
road authorities. The Norwegians
were seeking to develop a
safety product that would alert a
motorist if their vehicle started to
“drift” out of a driving lane. Some
luxury cars are already fitted with
video cameras to track lane markings
and sound alerts if “drifting”
occurs - but the cameras do not
work if the roads are unmarked or
say covered by snow.
The Norwegians were
looking for an alternative to the
camera - and came up with the
concept of an antenna installed
in the side of a car which picks
up radio signals broadcast from
transponders buried in a road’s
top layer of asphalt. During recent
tests using driving simulators,
researchers found that of all
possible warning signals, motorists
much preferred “vibrating”
steering wheels - and that got the
researchers thinking. Could such
technology replace some physical
road barriers?
Terje Moen, research
manager of SINTEF, Scandinavia’s
independent research organization,
thinks they can. “What is
interesting about this product is
that it can be developed to com-
Photo by SINTEF
A test vehicle fitted with a WayPilot
antennae to pick up signals from the
invisible barrier.
pete with highway dividers,” Mr
Moen says. “If it is linked to the
steering wheel, a sort of electronic
barricade that actually
simulates a divider can be built
into the highway, and the system
can be retrofitted to existing vehicles.”
Meanwhile the Norwegian
Public Roads Administration is
joining SINTEF and the product’s
developers, Arendal, to begin
road testing.
TRANSIT PLANNING
Health dividends
Leaving the car behind and using
public transport might be good
for health - but it is usually hard
to measure. Now a detailed study
of obesity among travellers using
light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina
suggests people really can
shed weight with public transport.
(2) Researchers found daily users
of light rail services were better
able to control their weight and if
Continued next page

12 TransScan
Resilience & recovery
AN inundated village
in Pakistan’s Punjab
Province. Just one
of 4600 settlements
flooded by the record
monsoon. When
this photo was taken
in mid-August, floodwaters
still covered
a fifth of the country.
More than 2000 people
had lost their lives and
millions were injured or
suffering from disease
and deprivations that
followed.
Finding better ways to manage disaster
EVENTS like the Pakistan
flood disaster naturally
focus most of the world’s
attention on the immediate needs
for survival. Nonetheless, the
growing litany of natural catastrophes
is also producing examples
of where governments and
NGOs have been able to turn
seemingly hopeless situations
into “exemplars for recovery”.
For example the aftermath
of eight events - including
Mexico City’s 1985 earthquake
and the Bangladesh flood
of 1998 - have been identified by
researchers from the US thinktank,
the RAND Corporation, as
demonstrating successful recovery
and redevelopment practices
that could be usefully copied both
by the US and other countries. (1)
Their findings have just been published
by the US-based “Journal
of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management”.
RAND’s researchers
found no examples of successful
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
recovery policies within the US
itself and said that until recently
“disaster management” had been
a neglected priority area in America.
(See too “Remembering Katrina”
below.)
(Disaster management is
also an area where other governments
need to hone their skills.
Last year’s report by the international
Economics of Climate Adaptation
Working Group said by
Continued next page
Continued from previous page
they were walking a mile a day to
catch their train then their weight
probably dropped by an average
of 6.45lbs (about 3 kilograms).
The researchers found that increasing
access to LRT services
may also overcome individual
barriers to engaging in “daily
utilitarian exercise.” As a result,
the researchers recommend that
governments factor in “increases
in physical activity” when calculating
the cost-benefıts of new
transit systems.
AIR POLLUTION
Disrupted sleep
A link has been discovered between
air pollution and a known
cause of cardiovascular disease
- sleep-disordered breathing
(SDB). (3) A group of US researchers
identified the problem
after analysing the health of more
than 6000 people and the air pollution
levels in their home cities.
According to Dr Antonella Zanobetti
who led the investigation,
novel evidence was found for pollution
and temperature effects on
sleep-disordered breathing. “Increases
in apnea or hypopnea…
were associated with increases
in short-term temperature over
all seasons, and with increases
in particle pollution levels in the
summer months,” she said. In
the US about 17% of adults have
problems with SDB.
References:
(1) “An extra driver behind the wheel” SINTEF media statement 3 June 2010
(2) “The Effect of Light Rail Transit on Body Mass Index and Physical Activity”
John MacDonald et al American Journal of Preventive Medicine Aug 2010
(3) “New Link between Pollution, Temperature and Sleep-Disordered Breathing”
American Thoracic Society media statement 14 June 2010

Continued from previous page
2030 the world could be spending
up to $US 135 billion annually
to address the impacts of
climate change - unless more was
done now to improve resilience. *
(2))
Where there has been
success RAND found it correlated
to three basic approaches:
• Local empowerment - take
actions that minimise the affected
community’s loss of income
and social routine. This means
directly employing local people
in recovery work.
• Organization and leadership
- in practice this means government
agencies have to cut red
tape to restore infrastructure and
livelihoods more quickly; and
• Smart rebuilding - ensure that
redeveloped housing and infrastructure
is not only sustainable,
but improves community resilience
and reduces or eliminates
previous vulnerabilities.
* Footnote: The report calculated
that actions taken now to improve
resilience could cut the resulting
damages bill by up to 68% - and
that included such infrastructure improvements
as strengthening buildings
and constructing reservoirs to
combat drought.
AMREEN is her
name and the
eight-year-old was
washing dishes in
rainwater when the
UNICEF photographer
passed by.
Behind her is what
is left of the Khwas
Koorona Village in
Pakistan’s northwestern
Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa
province. An estimated
2.5 million of
the province’s
3.5 million residents
have been affected
by the floods.
Photo by
UNICEF/ZAK
Mexico City’s 1985
earthquake devastated the city.
More than 9500 people died,
100,000 lost their homes and
economic losses topped $US 4
billion. According to RAND the
Mexican Government responded
by establishing an autonomous
recovery agency with a timesensitive
mandate. In other words,
the agency was given two years
to complete the job. It quickly
transferred necessary staff, like
planners and engineers, from
other departments and used the
time-sensitivity to set performance
gaols.
Says RAND: “The effectiveness
of this policy is evidenced
by the rapid completion
of more than 45,000 homes within
the agency’s two year mandate
– an average of 3,220 dwellings
per month – and contracts with
1,200 private companies and the
creation of 175,000 jobs.”
The Bangladesh flood
of 1998 saw 68% of the country
covered by water for ten weeks,
918 deaths and 31 million people
in urgent need of help. RAND
says the key to recovery was
the actions of the Bangladesh
Rural Advancement Committee
(BRAC), an NGO that was normally
focused on long-term development
projects but had staff
and resources spread across the
country.
BRAC diverted its people
into the more immediate task
of flood recovery, which meant
returning flood victims to their
TransScan 13
Resilience & recovery
homes and income-generating
activities as quickly as possible.
In some cases this meant donating
seeds to local farmers so
that grains and vegetables could
be grown quickly. According to
RAND, such actions also prevented
large numbers of people
sinking into long-term poverty.
VICTORIA’S BUSHFIRES
Final report and aftermath
Less than a month after the Victorian
Bushfires Royal Commission
published its final report (3)
the Victorian Government issued
its considered reply accepting in
full or part 66 of the 67 recommendations.
(4) The only recommendation
rejected outright was
a voluntary property buy-back
scheme for residents in high-risk
areas. (5) The State Government
Continued next page

14 TransScan
Resilience & recovery
Continued from previous page
believed such a policy would increase
the fire risk for the residents
who wished to remain. The
devastating fire that swept across
Victoria in early 2009 (See special
TransScan reports June 2009
and October 2009 ) killed 173 people
and destroyed 2133 homes.
The Royal Commission’s final
No-go development zones?
report found that the potential
risk of bushfires was rising with
growing numbers of people living
in the rural-urban interface
and the “probable effects” of
climate change. That being the
case, the recommendations were
largely concerned with reducing
exposure to fire, making homes
more defendable, reducing the
intensity and spread of fire, and
helping people recover from the
IN theory by 2030 climate change
will have so intensified hurricane
and storm damage around the Caribbean
that countries in the region
will be spending up to 9% of their
annual GDP on repairs and no investor
will be prepared to risk money on
local development.
It is a grim prospect - so what
is the solution? It looks like being
a mixture of far tougher building
codes and greater spending on
insurance. At least those are the
basic conclusions of a report, “Economics
of Climate Adaptation” just completed by
the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility. * (a)
At present Caribbean countries spend around 6% of GDP
annually recovering from natural catastrophes and the report predicts
the figure could rise by a further 3% in 20 years. But the
report showed there were many “affordable” adaptation measures
that could be taken. For example in the Cayman Islands the report
suggests 90% of the country’s expected losses could be eliminated
by constructing sea walls and enforcing building codes.
But the solution is not so easy for Dominica. The report said
studies indicated that only 2% of the country’s calculated loss could
be averted by the cost-effective use of risk mitigation measures. As
an alternative, the report recommended buying more insurance.
* CCRIF is a unique international body. It was originally seed funded
by the Japanese Government and draws membership from 16 Caribbean
governments. Members use it as a risk pooling facility to provide
quick short-term liquidity if their countries are is hit by a catastrophic
event. Initial capital was raised internationally through the European
Union, World Bank and certain individual governments. CCRIF website:
(a) “Economics of Climate Adaptation” CCRIF 18 Aug 2010
impact of fire. Beyond Victoria
the commission recommended
State and federal governments
invest more in research. It found
the existing Melbourne-based
and largely Victorian-orientated
Bushfire Cooperative Research
Centre (6) was not meeting all
necessary research needs. In response,
Australia’s fire services
have collectively agreed to support
the CRC’s transition into
the “Australasian Fire Research
Institute”. (7) Meanwhile, the
Victorian Government is expecting
that the actions it will take
in response to the commission’s
recommendations - including a
“massive” increase in reduction
burning, jobs for hundreds of
new fire fighters and a new early
warning system - will cost the
State $867.3 million.
REMEMBERING KATRINA
Lessons in disaster
Having been hit by a hurricane,
global recession, and the oily
outpourings of BP’s ill-fated rig
Deepwater Horizon, New Orleans
has become something of a test
laboratory for coastal city disaster
recovery. Five years after Hurricane
Katrina struck, the Brookings
Institute has just published a
series of research papers on how
that recovery is progressing - and
it finds decidedly mixed results.
(8) The hurricane and subsequent
floods left 80% of the city underwater
and destroyed more than
182,000 homes. The aftermath
exposed serious weaknesses in
America’s preparedness to handle
natural disasters and even
after $US42 billion in federal
spending, New Orleans today has
got back only 78% of its pre-Katrina
population. Reconstruction
appears to have done little to end
social disparities and Brookings
finds African-Americans are still
the lowest paid and struggle to afford
the new, and comparatively
Continued next page

TransScan 15
Resilience & recovery
Continued from previous page
expensive housing. Meanwhile
the local economy is hampered
by what in the local New Orleans’
context are “stagnant and declining
industries” - like tourism, oil
and gas, and shipping. So what is
the solution? Brookings suggests
New Orleans takes advantage of
the US recession and the oil spill
and use both to focus extra attention
to the regional economy and
coastline. Brookings sees the recession
as “enormous opportunity”
to “strengthen and diversify”
local industry while the oil spill
reinforces the need underlined
by Katrina to invest in healthier
coastal wetlands and so advance
the city toward a culture of one
“living with water.”
DISASTER INSURANCE
Covering the tax base
Across the State border from
New Orleans, the Alabama Government
has just become the
first in the world representing a
developed economy to sign up for
parametric insurance* to cover
natural disasters. (9) Among other
things, the insurance allows for
immediate payments to cover the
cost of an emergency response -
and funds to replace any loss in
tax revenue the disaster might
cause. In effect the arrangement
transfers from government to the
private sector a slice of the financial
exposure to natural disasters.
Insurer Swiss Re negotiated the
three-year deal and according to
Alabama’s finance department,
the transaction is a milestone in
identifying and managing the
State’s risks. “Based simply on
the wind speed of a hurricane, we
can now receive funds rapidly to
cover our immediate costs,” said
Alabama’s risks manager, Ben
Spillers.
* Footnote: With parametric insurance
the insurer agrees beforehand
that a certain sum will be paid out
if a particular catastrophic event
occurs.
References:
(1) “Enhancing Disaster Recovery: Lessons from Exemplary International
Disaster Management Practices” by Jeffrey Garnett and Melinda
Moore (RAND Corporation) Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management, Vol 7 2010
(2) “Shaping Climate-Resilient Development” Economics of Climate
Adaptation Working Group 14 Sep 2009
(3) Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission 31 July 2010
(4) “Government takes action on major bushfire reforms” Victorian
Government media statement 27 Aug 2010
(5) “Victoria unveils response to Black Saturday report” ABC News 27
Aug 2010
(6) Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre website
(7) “Establishment of bushfire research institute” Bushfire CRC media
statement 31 July 2010
(8) “The New Orleans Index at Five Collection” Brookings Institution
Aug 2010
(9) “Alabama State Insurance Fund transaction marks first insurance
solution on behalf of US state government” Swiss Re media statement
27 Aug 2010
Events
up-date
World Conference on Disaster
Management
11-12 Oct, 2010
Sydney, NSW
2nd International Sprayed
Sealing Conference
11-12 Oct
Melbourne, Vic
13th International
Riversymposium
11-14 Oct 2010
Perth, WA
24th ARRB Conference
12-15 Oct 2010
Melbourne, Vic
National Local Roads and
Transport Congress
13-15 Oct 2010
Bunbury WA
SEGRA 2010 (Sustainable
Economic Growth for Regional
Australia)
19-21 Oct 2010
Townsville, Qld
Cities and their Regions:
Catalysts for Change
1-4 Nov 2010
Adelaide, SA
Disclaimer: The inclusion of items
in this column does not represent
endorsement by the publishers.

16 TransScan
Trends in mobility
Is LNG the way to keep freight moving?
By Catherine Madden
LATEST assessments of
LNG as a fuel for heavy
duty trucks suggest its use
will produce 25% less greenhouse
emissions than diesel and
since WA opened a $137 million
production facility last year* increasing
numbers of transport
companies have been making
the switch. But the arguments
* Wesfarmers’ Evol LNG plant
for using LNG extend beyond
straight environmental considerations.
Australia’s reliance on
imported oil is growing and the
fact that road freight could treble
in size by 2050 (1) gives locally
produced LNG great strategic
importance. Now for all the same
reasons, an independent US energy
think-tank is advocating a
similar conversion for America’s
heavy-duty truck fleet.
The National Energy Policy
Unit, base at the University
of Tulsa is proposing the switch
as the single most significant option
open to government both to
curb oil consumption and make
significant inroads into reducing
carbon dioxide emissions.
From an international
perspective, such a move by the
US would also have significant
impacts on the world market for
Continued next page
WA gas know-how for Indian buses
A
NATURAL gas fuel
enriched with hydrogen
could help to alleviate
the pollution from India’s notoriously
choked roads. Perth-based
clean power company Eden
Energy* has begun the world’s
first commercial trial of buses
fuelled by Hythane, a blend of
compressed natural gas enriched
with 15 to 20 per cent hydrogen.
In a country that is heavily reliant
on public transport, the Hythane
buses are part of India’s push
towards a hydrogen economy,
which could see a million of the
country’s vehicles powered by
hydrogen within a decade.
Up to 70 of the buses,
using the newly tested six-litre
Photo by Eden Energy
H06B CNG engines, will be on
the streets of Mumbai by the end
of 2010.
Eden Energy says
Hythane reduces harmful emissions
and greenhouse gases from
gas-powered vehicles by up to
50 per cent while increasing their
efficiency by up to 15 per cent.
Although many bus
fleets in India’s larger cities have
switched to natural gas in the
past five years, noxious gases
and smog are still a problem.
“The use of Hythane fuel
in the nation’s municipal buses
will make a significant reduction
in these pollutants, without any
power or performance penalties,
and without expensive engine or
vehicle add-on equipment,” said
Justin Fulton, the director of engine
and fuel systems for Eden’s
US subsidiary, Hythane.
Each bus is expected to
save about seven tonnes of CO 2 -
equivalent greenhouse gas annually.
* “Australian company heralds successful
tests in development of India’s
first production Hythane engine for bus
fleet” ASX announcement 28 May 2010

TransScan 17
Continued from previous page
oil. According to the policy unit,
it would effectively cut US oil
imports by 36% and that in itself
would reduce the world’s projected
oil usage by a whopping
50%. As a result, the world’s oil
consumption over the next 20
years would flatten.
The policy unit’s findings
and recommendations are
contained in a new report “Toward
a New National Energy
Policy”. (2) It proposes a rapid
start to the switch with 10% of
America’s heavy-duty truck fleet
being converted to LNG in 2011.
It suggests the figure then rise
by an additional 10% each year
until 2020 when all new American
trucks would be fuelled by
LNG.
Allowing for the older
diesel trucks that would still be
in operation, this would mean
that by 2030 70% of America’s
heavy-duty fleet would be running
on LNG.
The study says that although
the vehicles would be
more expensive to manufacture,
the conversion scheme would
lead to “significant reductions”
in oil use and reduce carbon
emissions by 1821 million metric
tons between 2011 and 2030.
The report says the greatest
roadblock to the plan is the
lack of an LNG refuelling infrastructure
but the authors believe
this would improve over time
as the trucking industry turned
increasingly to a system of centralised
“hubs” for pick-ups and
drop-offs rather than relying
on the individual long distance
truckers for all-points distribution.
Like the US, Australia’s
bill for oil imports is ratcheting
up alarmingly (3). But while our
production of crude oil last year
dropped to its lowest level in four
decades, the natural gas industry
grew strongly (4). Industry analysts
EnergyQuest estimates that
Continued next page
Trends in mobility
Photo by Fraunhofer Institute
Germany developing a new
concept in green transit
SO why does light rail need rails, or even a driver for that
matter? As this photo of Germany’s new prototype “Auto-
Tram”* shows, city transit vehicles of the future may well
operate without either. The designers described it as being “as long
as a streetcar and as agile as a bus with the combined benefits of
both”.
The vehicle reaches its destination simply by following,
automatically, lines painted on the road. (Although to overcome the
problems of winter snow covering up the lines, it may be necessary
for the Germans to adopt Dutch ideas for burying transponders below
the road. See “Could physical road barriers be eliminated?”
page 11.)
But for the moment researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute are
concentrating on developing the AutoTram’s power source. It will
be electricity - but it will not be delivered to the vehicle in the same
way as overhead power lines used to deliver energy to previous
generations of trams.
What the Germans have in mind is a system of electricity
recharging points along the AutoTram route. Rather than having
large batteries installed that can take hours to recharge, the Auto-
Tram will draw its electricity from docking stations positioned at
say every third or forth stop along its route. In place of batteries,
the researchers are in the process of developing “super capacitors”
that will be able to recharge the tram in under 60 seconds. (But unlike
batteries, capacitors can hold a large electric charge - but not
for long.)
The German Government is funding the research for another
two years, by which time Fraunhofer hopes to present a new pollution-free
transit vehicle to the world’s public transport authorities.
*

18 TransScan
Trends in mobility
Continued from previous page
Australian natural gas production
increased by 10.1% in the
year to December 2009, reaching
a record 1897 petajolues (PJ.
ELECTRIC TRUCKS
The long-term solution?
Converting trucks, or even investing
in the latest LNG-powered
vehicles, will not, in the
long-term, fix the carbon conundrum
- at least not if Australia is
to reach “zero carbon emissions”
as some believe necessary. But
how would such a “sustainable”
future ever be achieved? A team
of more than 50 researchers have
been investigating the idea and
their results have just been published
by Melbourne University’s
Energy Research Institute in a report:
the “Zero Carbon Australia
Stationary Energy Plan”. (5)
Remarkably the report finds that
Australia could make the switch
to 100% renewable energy in a
decade, and have cars and trucks
feeding off the all-electric system
within the same period. The new
electric grid would draw power
from mainly large-scale solar
power stations plus thousands of
wind turbines. Interestingly the
report does not suggest just a simple
switch from petrol, diesel and
LNG vehicles to electric and biofuelled
ones. It envisages people
making far greater use of a greatly
expanded network of electric
passenger trains and passenger
trams. Freight would be largely
shipped in freight trains and “cargo
trams”. Although there would
still be private cars - either electric
or biofuelled - they would
be used far less use than they are
today. Instead services would be
more localised and people would
need to travel less. “The modal
shift from private passenger vehicles
to shared rail vehicles has
the capacity to reduce the private
car fleet by around 50%,” the
Photo by Tecnalia
Makeover for ‘wheelchairs’
ANY belief that electric vehicles are merely motorised
wheelchairs has finally been dismissed with the development
of a sleek Spanish EV that reaches 140km in 10
seconds. The Tecnalia Technological Corporation’s Dynacar is a
two-seater with a single-shell, high-rigidity lightweight chassis
of steel and aluminium alloy. It can run on a battery or a small
internal combustion engine that will enable the battery to be supplied
with energy in a supplementary mode. The vehicle has a
peak power of 100 kW provided by a permanent magnet synchronous
electric motor and an energy storage capacity of 15 kWh.
Tecnalia says the car can be driven on the open road, but
its main purpose is as a research platform for new electric vehicle
technologies. Watch the video at .
“Tecnalia presents electric vehicle that reaches
140 km/hour in 10 seconds” 31 May 2010
report claims. “The average car
will travel 8000km p.a. instead of
the15,000km travelled today,” it
says.
EV TECHNOLOGY 1
Charging ahead 1
The City of Perth is boosting its
eco-credentials with the opening
of the city’s first car park with
recharging bays for electric cars
(6). The $33.5 million Elder
Street car park offers 12 hardwired
bays powered by energy
from solar panels on the roof.
Among other green features are
sensor-controlled lighting and
soak wells that will return rainwater
to the water table.
EV TECHNOLOGY 2
Charging ahead 2
New York has finally joined the
low emissions push by installing
its first electric recharging bay
in a city car park (7). The city is
the fourth in America – behind
San Francisco, Austin, and Detroit
– to install public recharge
points and with Ford, Chevrolet,
Continued next page

Continued from previous page
Nissan, and Daimler developing
mass-produced electric vehicles,
they could be in hot demand. Recharge
points are also being built
in garages under apartments.
TRAINS MAKE TRACKS
Riding the rails
Americans are catching the train
the work in greater numbers. The
State of Metropolitan America
report (8) found that although
driving to work is still by far the
most popular way to commute,
the share of Americans going by
train or subway has increased
for the first time in 40 years. Increases
were seen in big cities
with vast rail networks but also in
places that had opened up a light
rail service or expanded routes.
ELECTRIC BUSES
Running on sun power
Already a familiar sight in
Shanghai, the ultracapacitor bus
has been launched in Arlington,
Virginia (9). The zero-carbon bus
Trends in mobility
is powered by solar panels on the
roof and capable of recharging in
minutes. It has been developed
by Sinautec Automobile Technologies,
the American University
and research partner, Shanghai
Aowei Technology Development
Company. Unlike battery-powered
vehicles, ultracapacitor vehicles
can be charged within minutes
but lack storage and need
frequent recharging. Watch the
video at (See too
Germany’s new bus, page 17)
CYCLING
Paris pedals
Paris has embraced cycling culture
with demand often outstripping
supply for the 20,000 bikes
available for hire throughout the
city (10). Researchers estimate
that 2.16 million car trips in Paris
are foregone each year due to
the city’s bike sharing system.
A University of California study
has found 101 public bike programs
now operate in 125 cities
- up from 60 in 2008.
References
(1)“Meeting the 2050 Freight Challenge” PriceWaterhouseCoopers, commissioned
by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, 21 Jan 2010
(2) “Toward a New National Energy Policy: Assessing the Options” National
Energy Institute and Resources for the Future, June 2010
(3) “Australia’s Renewable Energy Future” Australian Academy of Sciences
Feb 2010
(4) “Australian oil production in 2009 falls to lowest level in 40 years: major
industry report” EnergyQuest 5 Mar 2010
(5) “Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan” University of Melbourne’s
Energy Institute and Beyond Zero Emissions 14 July 2010
(6) “Lord Mayor opens ‘greener’ Elder Street Car Park” Media statement 12
July 2010
(7) “Will new charging stations spark electric car sales?” 14 July 2010
(8) “On the Map: America’s Shifting Commuting Choices” 1 July 2010
(9) “Sinautec to showcase zero carbon ultracapacitor minibus at American
University” 22 Sept 2009 Media statement “Next Stop: Ultracapacitor Buses” 19 October 2009
(10) “Power to the pedals” Worldwatch Institute
TransScan 19
TRAN S
Net
A regular review of Internet sites
covering mobility and the built
environment
NORMALLY when Royal Commissions
publish their reports
they do so as a series of weighty
tomes - but not the Final Report
of Victoria’s Bushfires Royal
Commission. One volume -
Volume IV - only comes as an
online document. It contain not
only witness statements but also
photos and video footage of
the events. “The quantity and
nature of the material meant
a printed version is impractical,”
the commission explains.
AS flood-torn Pakistan struggles
with rebuilding, another
country has been examining the
lessons of its own past era of
reconstruction - Germany. As
well as publishing a fascinating
portfolio of illustrations,
Spiegel Online, also has an
interview with Albert Speer
- one of Germany’s top urban
planners and son of the
infamous Nazi architect of
the same name.
SOMEONE on ABC Radio mentioned
the other day that the
glamour had gone out of train
spotting… But what if you could
see all the trains moving all at
the same time in real time? In
the UK you can - thanks to the
work of a retired public servant,
Matthew Somerville. See the
results on
Disclaimer: The inclusion of these sites
does not mean endorsement by the
publishers. They have been selected
for interest value only.

20 TransScan
Advances in remote sensing
Images supplied by
Infoterra GmbH the
satellite operators.
Fremantle as seen by TerraSAR-X - one of the new twin radar satellites shown left.
How radar imagery is offering
new ways to track events
FREMANTLE and the
Swan River (above) appear
in stark contrast through
the radar “eyes” of TerraSAR-
X - one of two almost identical
German satellites now orbiting in
close formation 514 kilometres
above the Earth. The image was
taken exclusively for TransScan
by Infoterra GmbH while the satellites
were being manoeuvred and
tested to operate in tandem.
Their radar “eyes” enable
them to take Digital Elevation
Measurements - or highly
accurate three-dimensional images
without having to worry
about cloud cover or poor visibility.
In fact so accurate are the images,
that the twin satellites will
be able to identify movements on
the Earth’s surface - such as shifts
caused by earthquakes or much
more subtle geological movements
like those that occur just
before underground mining or gas
extraction unexpectedly causes a
nearby road, building or bridge
to collapse. Radar
imagery is
also good for
tracking oil
pollution at sea
and the German
satellites
have been used
in the Mexican
Gulf oil disaster.
“The reflection
of the radar
beam by the
smooth surface
of the oil slick
on the water is
different from the reflection of
the beam by the surrounding
water,” explained a spokesman.
In recent weeks they
have provided data for rescue
teams in the Pakistan floods.
The ability of the satellites to cut
through cloud cover means they
can also provide highly accurate
information on the damage being
caused during a cyclone.
REMOVE the billowing smoke and steam and this is
what the mouth of a volcano really looks like, albeit in
artificial colour. The image is made up of two taken by
TerraSAR-X to show changes around Iceland’s
Eyjafjallajoekull volcano and offers a good example of
the 3-D effect that can be obtained using radar.
Printed on Australian recycled paper