Preparing for Earth Hour tomorrow night – 31 March
Top five energy saving tips for Earth Hour
1. Switch off standby power – eliminate standby power on the night and all year round. Save up to $80 a year and 0.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
2. Don’t over heat or over cool rooms – only heat or cool the room you’re using and keep the temperature between 23 and 26 degrees. Save over $80 per year and 0.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
3. Get rid of that second fridge – old fridges can use two to three times the electricity of a newer fridge. Trade in the old fridge and save up to $250 per year and more than 1 tonne of carbon dioxide.
4. Switch off the lights and switch to energy saving bulbs – save more than $60 and 0.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the life of a CFL.
5. Check your pool pump running times – switch off pumps during Earth Hour and when you reset it don’t run it for too long. Save up to $120 per year and 0.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Earth hour on Saturday night http://www.yasstribune.com.au/news/local/news/general/earth-hour-on-saturday-night/2505434.aspx, 30 Mar, 2012 Households taking part in Earth Hour are being urged to follow some simple tips to reduce energy use on the night – and all year round. Earth Hour is on Saturday March 31 at 8.30pm, and households are being urged to turn off all non-essential lighting and electrical appliances for at least one hour. Continue reading
Australia’s nuclear industry exempted from laws on Aboriginal rights: is Warren Mundine unaware of this?
Aboriginal nuclear power promoter, Warren Mundine, was on the job today, with an article in the Financial Review. Mundine praised nuclear energy, and assured readers that the industry is going ahead. He made out that it is necessary for nuclear medicine. Most alarming of all, Mundine advocates the “full nuclear cycle”. That means Australia not only having nuclear power, but taking in nuclear waste from overseas countries.
We should not be all that surprised at Mundine’s pro nuke spruik. He has for a long time, been part of Australia’s nuclear lobby – its nuclear ‘spin machine’. – Christina Macpherson
FINANCIAL REVIEW JIM GREEN. 30 MARCH 12, As a co-convener of the Australian Uranium Association’s Indigenous Dialogue Group, it’s a shame that Warren Mundine turns a blind eye to the crude racism of Australia’s nuclear industry
He ought to have noted that last year’s amendments to the South Australian Roxby Downs Indenture Act 1982 retain exemptions from the SA Aboriginal Heritage Act. Traditional owners were not even consulted. The SA government’s spokesperson in Parliament said: “BHP were satisfied with the current arrangements and insisted on the continuation of these arrangements, and the government did not consult further than that.”
Mundine says that Australia has “a legal framework to negotiate equitably with the traditional owners on whose land many uranium deposits are found”. He ought to have noted that legislation was passed specifically to exempt the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory from the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
And Mundine ought to have noted that Resources Minister Martin Ferguson’s National Radioactive Waste Management Act overrides the Aboriginal Heritage Act, sidesteps the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and allows for the imposition of a dump on Aboriginal land even in the absence of any consultation with or consent from traditional owners. http://afr.com/p/opinion/our_radioactive_racism_UTpKFLGc40Yd3aBCYAJByM
Is Fukushima nuclear plant ‘under control’ – in fact, it is in a precarious state
The spent fuel rods stored at the No. 4 reactor pose a particular threat, experts say, because they lie unprotected outside the unit’s containment vessel. Tokyo Electric has been racing to fortify the crumpled outer shell of the reactor, and to keep the tank fed with water. But should a problem also arise with cooling the spent fuel, the plant could run the risk of another colossal radiation leak, experts say.
“The plant is still in a precarious state,”
Japan Admits Nuclear Plant Still Poses Dangers By HIROKO TABUCHI NYT, March 29, 2012, TOKYO — The damage to the core of at least one of the meltdown-stricken reactors at Fukushima could be far worse than previously thought, raising fresh concerns over the plant’s stability and gravely complicating the post-disaster cleanup, a recent internal investigation has shown.
The results of the inquiry, released this week by the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, also cast doubt over the Japanese government’s declaration three months ago that the ravaged site is now under control. Continue reading
Earth Hour a global event on March 31
Map of cities participating in Earth Hourhttp://www.theage.com.au/multimedia/environment/earth-hour-map
Earth Hour 2012 will take place on March 31, 2012 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm.[4]
In February, Earth Hour launched its 2012 campaign, “I Will If You Will”, with the intention of engaging its growing global community to go beyond the hour and coordinate their efforts publicly through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and email. Using a dedicated YouTube platform [5], IWIYW asks Earth Hour’s digital community to inspire people from all corners of the globe to take sustainability actions, and to share their commitment to the environment with their own social media networks.
Executive Director and Co-Founder Andy Ridley said, “Earth Hour’s challenge is no longer to connect people; the challenge is to offer a reason to connect. Any movement of change begins with symbolism – it’s a needed step to prove enough people care about an issue. Earth Hour is past the beginning now, and lots of people are switching their lights off every year in March. We’re now at the stage of taking it beyond the hour.” [6]
Further proof of Earth Hour’s change in direction came when it was announced its global headquarters was moving from Sydney to Singapore. A launch event took place at ION Orchard on February 20, where it was announced that the move was supported by Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB). [7]
UK’s nuclear plans in disarray, as 2 big energy firms pull out
Energy firms abandon nuclear plans, Google News, (UKPA) –30 Mar 12 The Government’s plans for a nuclear-power renaissance are in disarray after two of the “big six” energy giants pulled out of a venture to build new reactors…… The venture was hit by the global economic crisis and Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power in response to the disaster at Fukushima following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami last year,… as well as the significant costs of the project…… They also confirmed they were committed to investing in energy schemes in the UK, including renewables and gas, which have shorter payback times on capital investment than nuclear build. The latest withdrawal from nuclear new-build comes after Scottish and Southern Energy announced last year that it was pulling out of the NuGeneration joint venture to build a new plant at a site near Sellafield, West Cumbria….. Gary Smith, of the GMB union, said: “This is a devastating blow which leaves the UK Government energy strategy in tatters.” … environmental groups seized on the news as evidence that nuclear power, which provides just under a fifth of UK electricity supplies, was not a financially-viable option for the country’s future energy mix. They called for the Government to back renewables, which they said had the potential to create thousands of jobs, supply households and businesses with clean, safe and affordable electricity, and tackle climate change.
Nuclear power just not economically viable – says retiring Exelon nuclear company CEO
Exelon’s ‘Nuclear Guy’: No New Nukes Forbes, Jeff McMahon , C3/29/2012 Nuclear power is no longer an economically viable source of new energy in the United States, the freshly-retired CEO of Exelon, America’s largest producer of nuclear power, said in Chicago Thursday.
And it won’t become economically viable, he said, for the forseeable future Continue reading
Decentralised energy – you can start with a mixture of grid power and off-grid solar
Hybrid solar: How to kiss the grid goodbye , REneweconomy, By Jeff Bye 30 March 2012 If ever there were a need to develop off-grid power systems it would have to be now, when transmission costs are now up to around 60 per cent of non-solar power bills.Solar systems have historically been classified into two broad camps – “grid connected” or “off-grid” systems. This distinction has arisen due to historical segments of the market that needed solar to do different things. The vast majority of systems we see around Australia’s towns and cities are grid connected and have been driven by feed-in-tariffs and consumer desires to cut electricity costs and do something positive for the environment.
Off-grid systems have historically been the preserve of regional customers seeking to avoid expensive network augmentation costs to provide power to their remote locations. Off-grid systems are usually a lot more expensive as they require battery storage, more complicated control technology and often diesel backup generators to ensure the lights will always shine. Battery technology has also been a culprit as the memory effect of old-style lead-acid batteries has meant that battery arrays are oversized to ensure the depth of discharge is not high and hence battery life is extended.
An emerging trend though is for so-called hybrid systems which take a little from column A, and a little from column B. Such systems could either be described as an off-grid system which uses the grid as the standby generator or a grid-connected system with some added battery storage. Either way, these systems don’t require expensive diesel generators since the grid provides that service, and the size of the battery arrays can be downgraded as the cost of back-up power using off-peak grid electricity is much lower than that provided by diesel generators.
The technology that is making this possible is a new generation of products capable of directing energy flows as the consumer best desires….
Increasingly the electricity grid is moving towards Grid 2.0. Eventually, the networks will cease to become simply a delivery mechanism for electrons to your home and will morph into a shared network designed to help each energy user effectively manage their surplus or deficit of electrons to meet their needs. With this will come enormous changes to the business models of the network operators as customers gradually become more and more self-sufficient and use less and less from the grid….. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/hybrid-solar-how-to-kiss-the-grid-goodbye-59957
Tepco asks Japanese government for more $billions, to avoid bankruptcy, and pay compensation
TEPCO seeks new billions from Japan CNN March 29, 2012 —
*Tokyo Electric Power Co. is asking the Japanese government for about $22 billion
*The company is reeling from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
* Analysts say it the accident may cost up to 10 trillion yen ($120 billion)
Tokyo – Japan’s largest utility asked the government for 1 trillion yen ($12 billion) in fresh capital Thursday to stay solvent as it faces enormous compensation costs for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. is also seeking another 800 billion yen ($10 billion) from a government fund to help it compensate people affected by the Fukushima Daiichi accident, including the estimated 100,000-plus people displaced. It has already requested more than 1.7 trillion yen from that fund…. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/29/world/asia/japan-tepco/
Offshore wind energy for Japan, as it leaves nuclear energy behind
Floating Windmills in Japan Help Wind Down Nuclear Power: Energy Bloomberg, By Chisaki Watanabe – Mar 29, 2012 Japan is preparing to bolt turbines onto barges and build the world’s largest commercial power plant using floating windmills, tackling the engineering challenges of an unproven technology to cut its reliance on atomic energy. Continue reading
Scotland’s renewable energy success, providing jobs, and supplying rest of UK with electricity
Energy Minister delighted as Scotland beats renewable energy target Daily Record co UK, Mar 29 2012 FIGURES revealed today that an extra 45 per cent of renewable energy was generated in Scotland last year compared with 2010. The statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics mean around 35% of Scotland’s electricity needs came from renewables in 2011, assuming that gross consumption in 2011 is similar to 2010.
This beats the Scottish Government’s target of 31% for last year. Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing was delighted with the news. He said: “It’s official: 2011 was a record breaker with enough green electricity being produced in Scotland to comfortably beat our interim target. ”And Scotland met almost 40% of the UK’s renewables output in 2011, demonstrating just how much the rest of the UK needs our energy.
“We are seeing great progress towards our goal of generating the equivalent of 100% of Scotland’s electricity needs from renewables by 2020.” The figures show that renewable electricity generation, wind energy generation and hydro generation were all at a record high in 2011…..
Liberal Democrat Energy spokesman Liam McArthur said the figures, taken together with the Scottish Renewables report showing that over 11,000 jobs are directly related to the development of the renewables sector, confirm that Scotland is capitalising on the rewards that the renewable energy industry can bring…
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/03/29/scotland-beats-renewable-energy-target-reveals-new-statistics-86908-23806298/
Urgent need for Australia to upgrade its “cheap and dirty” grid
“Australia can’t turn its back on the global shift from dirty to clean energy, from non-renewable to renewable, and from inefficient to efficient. It can’t do this anymore than it could resist the information technology age or the rise of China – and it is not in our national interest to do so.”
Cheap and dirty grid may be our biggest liability, REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 30 March 2012 For decades Australia has boasted of its cheap and reliable electricity grid as the most potent sign of its economic competitiveness. But two new studies highlight the folly of resting on past laurels, and how Australia’s cheap and dirty grid has left our economy exposed and poorly prepared for the inevitable change to a low-carbon economy.
One study , by the University of Queensland and the Global Change Institute, suggests that Australia’s power system is among the least resilient in the world – even compared to other resource-rich nations such as Canada and Brazil – and presents a risk for consumers and investors alike.
The second report, prepared by The Climate Institute in conjunction with US industrial giant General Electric, finds that Australia is now ranked 16th among G20 countries in terms of the ability to prosper in a low-carbon economy, and is the only country to have gone backwards since 1995,… Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 