An inflammatory subject
PRIOR to the national elections, a plan was announced to amalgamate the national emergency services, the fire service and the nation’s ambulances into one unit.
We cast doubts upon the concept at the time, because we could see the potential for many problems, not the least in terms of both the control and funding of such a major body.
We have an excellent example of the kind of problem that can be faced within the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
The PNGDF name covers not only the land-based military forces, the soldiers, infantrymen and specialised battalions, but includes the nation’s navy and air arm.
The head of this multi-skilled force has been variously drawn from the three services and not without considerable controversy and ill-feeling.
The funding for these three component parts of the nation’s defence is similarly a matter of heated, if guarded discussion; each part naturally pushes forward its needs and perceived requirements.
Given the huge disparity between the army on the one hand and the navy and air unit on the other, such spirited in-fighting could be expected.
Our concern would be that the three-in-one recipe for a national disaster service would see a great deal of ill-feeling between members of such a unit; it seems unlikely that they would take kindly to instructions from an outside source.
Our concern was revived by the Easter message of the Catholic Archbishop of Port Moresby, Sir Brian Barnes.
Targeting national corruption, the archbishop added that the fire service would be a “worthwhile recipient of extra Government funding at this time of plenty”, a remark with which we heartily agree.
Over the years, The National has repeatedly drawn the nation’s fire services to the attention of successive governments, with very little effect.
Chief fire officers have warned of the possibility of major conflagrations breaking out in our handful of cities and towns, while fire services are often wrongly targeted by the public for deficiencies that are well beyond their influence.
Low water pressure, for example, is an issue beyond the control of the local fire station; adequate water pressure is essential for the operation of the fire trucks and their hose systems when fighting a fire.
Probably none of our fires services is properly equipped to deal with a fire in one of the capital’s high-rise office blocks; the possibility of a towering inferno remains real.
And today, there is a growing number of apartment blocks of similar height, sharply increasing the possibility of a fire outbreak from a domestic source.
Many recent buildings in the capital have appropriate fire fighting resources built-in – alternative staircases, fire extinguishers in public areas and passageways, firewalls to contain an outbreak and safe exits to the street.
So they should, because no building is supposed to be erected in PNG without prior fire service inspection of the plans.
Non-compliance, according to our laws, means construction work will be halted; such construction as has been completed may even be demolished if there is not an immediate solution to the fire service concerns.
But how many buildings are inspected while under construction?
And how many wooden buildings, some tinder-dry and dating back more than half a century, have been inspected and passed by the fire services?
We recall a group of tertiary students who conducted a survey of buildings in the nearby town.
This revealed that none of the operating discos had any fire prevention facilities, that emergency doors were locked and in some cases, welded shut and that a number of new structures of a permanent nature had been erected without proper fire provisions.
In many cases, these shortcomings are not the fault of the fire services.
Understaffed, under-trained and under-equipped, the men of the service and their officers have often impressed us with their commitment.
But they have dire need of new fire engines, new guaranteed sources of water supply, new hand equipment, supplies of anti-inflammatory equipment to fight large chemical and petroleum fires and a host of other issues, including satisfactory working and housing accommodation.
We echo the archbishop’s concerns and urge the Government to take an in-depth look at the 2008 requirements of the PNG Fire Service.
 
Salt could shake up world energy supply
By ALISTER DOYLE
TOFTE, Norway: Only up to powering light bulbs so far, “salt power” is a tantalising if distant prospect as high oil prices make alternative energy sources look more economical.
Two tiny projects to mix sea and river water – one by the fjord south of Oslo, the other at a Dutch seaside lake – are due on stream this year and may point to a new source of clean energy in estuaries from the Mississippi to the Yangtze.
The experiments, which seek to capture the energy released when fresh and salt water are mixed, build on knowledge that has been around for centuries – in one case imitating the process of osmosis used by trees to suck water from their roots.
Although they are far from being economically viable, if eventually successful, they might help a long-term quest to diversify away from fossil fuels such as coal and oil, widely blamed for stoking global warming.
“We might well be able to find new promising solutions such as generating power naturally from osmotic forces occurring when salt and fresh water are mixing,” Norwegian deputy energy minister Liv Monica Stubholt said.
And rivers flow around the clock, an advantage compared to variable wind or solar power.
Oil, currently trading not far from a record US$112 a barrel, is forecast to peak this year as a US slowdown reduces demand, but analysts polled by Reuters recently still saw the average price above US$80 in 2010.
The UN Climate Panel said last year energy sources such as waves, tidal power or salt were a long way off – unlikely to make a significant contribution to overall power needs by 2030.
The science at the heart of the projects is the fact that when salt and fresh water mix at river mouths, they are typically warmed by 0.1C. Dutch scientists say such energy at all the world’s estuaries is equivalent to 20% of world electricity demand.
The plants may support hopes the technology can overcome hurdles, the most significant of which is poor cost-effectiveness of the membranes used in the process.
In Norway, power group Statkraft, which says it is Europe’s top producer of hydro and wind energy alongside Electricite de France, is building a test plant costing US$20 million.
“Ours will be the world’s first saline power plant based on osmosis,” Stein Erik Skilhagen of the state-owned company said.
The plant, at Tofte on the Oslo fjord, will have output of up to about 5kW – enough to run household appliances such as washing machines or heaters or a few dozen lightbulbs.
The Dutch Centre for Sustainable Water Technology (Wetsus) will also in three to four months start a pilot “blue power” test at IJsselmeer in the Netherlands, from where water flows into the sea.
“At the start, it will be on the scale of 100W ... but we aim at this salt factory to obtain 1-5kW within one year,” Jan Post, a researcher at Wetsus, said.
The Norwegian and Dutch plants use different systems but both depend on membranes placed between the salt and fresh water, which are currently prohibitively expensive and highly energy-intensive to produce.
“The Achilles’ heel for this process is that there is no commercial membrane,” Menachim Elimelech, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University in the US, said. “It’s not even close to being economical.”
The membranes are similar to, but thinner, than those used at many desalination plants, when sea water is pressed against membranes that allow only fresh water through in a process known as reverse osmosis.
Makers of membranes such as General Electric, Dow Chemical, Hydranautics or Japan’s Toray Industries focus most on membrane technology for desalination – a market growing by about 15% a year worldwide.
Osmosis’ power was shown in 1748 when French physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet put a pig’s bladder filled with alcohol in a trough of water. The bladder swelled and burst – the more concentrated liquid draws pure water into it.
At Tofte, the power exerted by salt water sucking in fresh water is equivalent to water falling 270m in a waterfall. The only emissions are brackish water.
Unlike the osmosis of the Norwegian system, the Dutch scheme captures salt particles which give off electrical currents. – Reuters
Editorial