Australia’s carbon tax and renewables on the rise, bring a panic reaction from nuclear spin doctors
It’s been quite a week, for energy policy in Australia. Interviews with 14,000 Australians showed that 91% want renewable energy (http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2776594.html). The Western Australian Labor “Party came out with a renewed, and stronger, anti-nuclear policy. Prime Minster Julia Gillard and the Greens negotiated a carbon tax agreement with a $multibillion fund for renewable energy .
With all this, All Australia’s old nuke spin doctors must be in a panic. They were out in force, and some new ones, too.
Their current story is that the Fukushima radiation is nothing to worry about, really – (like asbestos) it doesn’t kill anyone in the short term.
Further, they’re telling us that the Fukushima “event is EVIDENCE that the new nuclear reactors will be safe.
Even better, they somehow wangled Dr Adi Paterson, the CEO of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisationto be keynote speaker at Sydney’s Solar Energy Conference. As a loyal pro-nuker, Paterson used his chance to rubbish renewable energy, and promote nuclear. – Christiona Macpherson
To use nuclear power to combat Climate Change – a tragic miscalculation
That which cannot be controlled must be prevented. Today, that means preventing the threat of climate change and eradicating nuclear weapons. But we cannot afford efforts to address one challenge that end up aggravating the other. Attempting to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through nuclear energy, thereby fueling the dangers of the ultimate global incendiary – nuclear war – could be the most tragic of all miscalculations…….
From Fukushima to disarmament, BY MALCOLM FRASER, ABC Environment | 5 JUL 2011 In our rush to find a solution to climate change, nuclear energy has again been promoted. But the disaster at Fukushima reminds us of just how devastating nuclear can be.
MONTHS AFTER THE devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima compounds the humanitarian tragedy and impedes recovery. The damaged reactors and spent-fuel ponds contain around 10 times as much nuclear fuel as did the Chernobyl reactor that exploded in 1986. In three reactors, the fuel has melted, almost certainly through the reactor vessels; primary containment structures have been breached; explosions have torn away the secondary containment (the buildings); radioactive releases continue; and closed-loop cooling has not been re-established.
Fukushima has highlighted how vulnerable spent-fuel ponds are to direct damage or disruption of power, water, or pumps for cooling. These pools contain vast amounts of long-lived radioactivity, Continue reading
Climate change brings wildfire threats to nuclear installations
While there are a range of findings, the majority point toward greatly increased stresses upon western North American forests due to climate change. There are even detailed studies, nearly all of them, indicating that climatic changes will increase the number and severity of fire events beyond the parameters reconstructed through paleodendrological evidence. Wildfires are likely be the punctual culmination of various stresses, in one quick moment transforming forests into deserts where trees may never again grow in any great numbers…….While building nuclear weapons might not quite be fiddling, you get the idea. While America burns, its leaders are busy pouring scarce money and manpower into nuclear weapons. The fire in New Mexico is both symbolic and literal in this sense..
Nuclear Fiddling, While Los Alamos Burns, The 4th Media, DARWIN BOND-GRAHAM | BeiJing Time, July 5, 2011 LANL is not just any government lab. LANL is the epicenter of the US nuclear weapons program. It is the home base of the weaponeers, the thousands of Department of Energy employees and subcontractors who have tethered their careers, livelihoods, and identities to the atom bomb’s continuing role in American foreign, and domestic policy. In this respect LANL is the brain trust (or moral pit, if you prefer) of US nuclearism. LANL is also now the center of US plutonium manufacturing for nuclear weapons; the Lab is host to billion dollar factories dedicated to storing, milling (one could even say supplicating to) this most deadly material. Expansions are underway
So when the Cerro Grande fire, incinerating pine and juniper trees like match sticks, crossed onto LANL property eleven years ago and torched over 100 lab buildings, many assumed the worst. Continue reading
World Heritage Parks not necessarily immune from uranium mining
Don’t let’s get too complacent about UNESCO naming Koongarra as a World Heritage
National Park. The French nuclear company AREVA is still ruthlessly pursuing its goal of mining uranium there. And look what an Australian uranium company is doing in a UNESCO Heritage Park in the magnificent Tanzanian ecology.
Aust firm mines uranium in game reserve, Sydney Morning Herald, July 5, 2011, Australia’s Mantra Resources will start mining in late 2012 in the southern part of the 54,600-square kilometre park estimated to have 24.4 million kilogrammes) of uranium oxide deposits……
Tanzania will begin uranium mining in its southern Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s second-largest wildlife sanctuary and a UNESCO heritage site, the energy minister said……
he voiced optimism about getting clearance from the national environmental authorities and added that a UNESCO team would visit Tanzania for verification…..Environmentalists argue that the road project will endanger wildlife and disrupt the annual migration of millions of wildebeest and zebras from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara in neighbouring Kenya….http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/aust-firm-mines-uranium-in-game-reserve-20110705-1h0w9.html
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Baseload solar energy on the way – a game changer for renewable energy
The dawn of baseload solar energy, 6 Jul 2011, Climate Spectator, Giles ParkinsonSolar energy and baseload power are not usually two words that detractors of renewable energy allow to be included in the same phrase, unless it is accompanied by the word “not.” From now on though, they may become indelibly linked. Continue reading
CSIRO set to lead Australia’s renewable energy revolution
CSIRO maps out Australia’s energy future, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 05/07/2011, Reporter: Michael Troy The CSIRO is at the forefront of development of renewable energy generation but Australia is struggling for investment in commercialisation.Transcript, PHILIP LASKER, PRESENTER: Australia’s power grid is about to be reshaped with the introduction of a carbon tax. The CSIRO has outlined its vision for a low-carbon future, with a mix of renewables, geothermal and lower-emissions coal supplying all of Australia’s power needs within 30 years.
The research and development is continuing apace, but funding for commercialisation has stalled, with investors shying away from Australian companies.
…….With the new battery – called an UltraBattery – there is enough stored energy in this one container to power 1,000 homes for a day. The batteries also even out the power fed into the grid…….http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business/items/201107/s3262006.htm
Selling solar energy from Australian home rooftops
AUSTRALIA SAYS HOUSEHOLDS CAN SELL SOLAR ENERGY FOR US$40, Utility Products, 6 July 2011 Australian households can sell their solar energy for about A$38 (US$40.48) for every megawatt hour of electricity generated.
The Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator says the average market price for a Renewable Energy Certificate, which is equivalent to one megawatt hour of electricity generation, is $38.39 in 2011.
The office released its annual report on Tuesday which showed more than 160,000 homes and businesses installed solar energy last year.
That was an increase of more than 100,000 on the previous year.
“Growth in the installation of solar panels was encouraged by various state and federal initiatives including Solar Credits,” the report said.
Solar credits make solar panel installation cheaper for home owners.
The ORER accredited 24 more renewable energy power stations in 2010, bringing to 316 the total number of accredited renewable energy power stations in Australia.
Those stations can generate power to the equivalent of more than 1.9 million homes.
1 This month
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