Victoria’s Baillieu government YES to coal, NO to wind – despite the facts
— A wind farm cannot be built within two kilometres of a person’s home without their consent. But a coal mine can be opened within 100 meters of a home without the owner’s consent.
— Wind farms are now excluded from ‘no go’ zones stretching across the state. But coal mines face no such ‘no go’ zones: the only place they are excluded from is national parks (for now).
— All wind farms require planning approval from the local council. Coal projects, on the other hand, can avoid the need to obtain certain planning approvals at all in some cases.
— Wind farms must comply with environmental laws like any other project. Coal projects, on the other hand, are exempt from parts of key laws like the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic).
Coal or wind in your backyard? http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/coal-or-wind-your-backyard Michael Power, 30 April 12, If you’re going to ‘pick winners’ from the energy market, you at least want to choose wisely. So it’s hard to see why Victorian laws treat coal and coal seam gas more favourably than renewable energy.
The Environment Defenders Office (Victoria) (EDO) released a report last week that finds Victoria’s laws give the mining industry privileged treatment that few other industries enjoy. In particular, they now make it easier to obtain approval for a coal mine than a wind farm in Victoria.
The planning rules for wind farms introduced by the state government last year are some of the toughest that apply to any type of development anywhere in the country. No new wind projects have been proposed in Victoria since they have been introduced.
At the same time, the government has moved to relax the laws that apply to new mining projects, developing a strategy to encourage brown coal export in Victoria, and initiating a Parliamentary Inquiry to identify and remove barriers to further ‘Greenfields’ minerals exploration and mining. Continue reading
Free solar power installation for low income households
Free Solar Power Systems For Cayman Islands Households, Energy Matters, 30 April 12, The Cayman Islands government is taking an interesting approach to helping low income families battle increasing electricity costs – by providing free solar panel systems.
Cayman Islands’ Premier, the Hon. McKeeva Bush, OBE, JP announced last week a free solar energy programme for 1500 households that will generate electricity bill savings of nearly 70% for beneficiaries and ensure these families will always have access to electricity for basic applications.
The $15 million programme will not only benefit the households, but also generate between 150 – 200 new job opportunities for Caymanians.
“We will be using reliable data from the Economic and Statistics Office, the Electricity Regulatory Authority and the Department of Social Services, in order to target those in most need of assistance. We will ensure that the myth is broken that renewable energy is only for the very wealthy and elite!” said Premier Bush. The Cayman Islands government has been pushing renewables uptake since revising its Electricity Regulatory Authority Law in 2010. A pilot feed in tariff program was launched in 2011, paying AUD 42c per kilowatt hour for all solar electricity produced by a system.
The Cayman Islands has a special interest in low emissions electricity generation. Like many small island nations around the world, the Caymans currently has a high dependence on electricity generated with expensive imported fossil fuels and is especially vulnerable to the projected impacts of climate change. The island of Grand Cayman was hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, flooding many areas and damaging an estimated 95% of the buildings on the island…. http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3183
The interview that Australia’s ABC left out of its climate change documentary
Naomi Oreskes deconstructs Nick Minchin’s climate denial Apr 23, 2012 by SkepticalScienceNaomi Oreskes explains with great clarity the driving force behind climate denial – aversion to the political and economic implications of climate change leading to a rejection of the science. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZQNiDIBxO4
Efficiency, Renewables, Smart Grids replacing nuclear and fossil fuel power
The upshot of these events is an intensified focus on energy efficiency and renewables, two solutions that hold promise of bridging the supply-demand gap in the years ahead while simultaneously reducing the current heavy reliance on fossil fueled generation.
At the same time, new investments in smart grid technologies to manage demand and integrate renewable power supplies into the grid are increasing rapidly.
Backfilling Nuclear Shutdowns With Efficiency And Renewables In Japan, Germany And California? Think Progress, Apr 29, 2012 by James Newcomb, via the Rocky Mountain Institute Electric utilities and policymakers in Japan and Germany have been scrambling for months to find ways to compensate for nuclear power plants shut down in the aftermath of Fukushima.
In both instances, fossil fuels are part of the stopgap solution to offset the declines in nuclear generation in the short term, but longer-term energy policies are shifting definitively toward efficiency and renewables. Now, the unexpected and indefinite shutdown of both units at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in Southern California has raised questions about California’s short-term electricity supply options and long-term contingency plans.
Not surprisingly, efficiency, demand response, and renewables could play a key role in helping to diversify and mitigate risks for Southern California’s electricity supply future. The solutions being pioneered in these three markets, while driven by different circumstances, all take advantage new smart grid technologies to manage and integrate distributed resources….. Continue reading
Once unthinkable – but soon now, all Japan’s nuclear reactors turned off
All reactors off by spring — a once unthinkable scenario, Japan Times, By MIZUHO AOKI As the crisis continues at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and thousands of people remain evacuated due to radiation fears, public sentiment has turned against allowing reactors idled for regular checks at power stations nationwide to be restarted.
To ease public safety concerns, the government ordered stress tests be carried out on all reactors. ….the overall sentiment against atomic power is gaining traction. The clock is ticking on the 54 reactors nationwide http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20110719i1.html
The politics of Australia’s ABC TV coverage of climate change
Climate change denial is as easy as ABC Independent Australia , 25 April 12, The ABC’s approach to reporting on climate change is motivated more by politics than science, says environment editor Sandi Keane — who compares its coverage to that of the BBC. “…….This week, the ABC’s Q&A show will host another ‘debate’ on climate science, with former Coalition Senator and Liberal power broker, the well-known AGW-dissenter, Nick Minchin. Regardless of the outcome, the sceptics can already chalked it up as a win thanks to the myth perpetuated by the ABC that AGW is ‘controversial’….. It is no secret that the phoney ‘debate’ about global warming was deliberately manufactured by self-interest groups to delay regulation on emissions….
In a disgraceful move by the ABC, no doubt as a result of politics once again determining program content, the above clip from the show with Professor Naomi Oreskes (author of the best seller: Merchants of Doubt) has been cut from tonight’s show – or so we are told in this morning’s Age by Prof Stephan Lewandowsky.
You will be told that each ‘side’ was able to choose its own team to convince the other to change their mind. Not so Anna Rose, it appears.
Watch the above clip of Oreskes’ interview with Nick Minchin and you’ll understand why his side of politics were afraid of it going to air. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/climate-change-denial-is-as-easy-as-abc/
The growing danger of nuclear weapons in Asia
Asia is steadily becoming increasingly militarised
arms spending by Asian nations will this year for the first time overtake that of European countries. China, Japan, India, South Korea and Australia accounted for more than 80 per cent of total Asian defence spending
While there is recognition of the devastating consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, [in The Lowy report recommendations] there does not appear to be enunciation of the logical goal of getting rid of the weapons.
Asia: Dangers Of Extended Nuclear Deterrence – Analysis, Eurasia Review, By Neena Bhandari, April 28, 2012 With India and Pakistan testing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles this April, close on the heels of North Korea’s unsuccessful test launch of a long-range rocket, a new report by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy says it is Asian strategic mistrust that is holding back nuclear disarmament.
According to Lowy’s international security programme director Rory Medcalf, who is also principal editor of the report titled Disarming Doubt: The Future of Extended Nuclear Deterrence in East Asia, the nuclear disarmament push in Asia had stalled, owing to the region’s tangle of strategic mistrust. Continue reading
Regional Australia getting ready for solar energy
“Regional Australia is where it’s all going to happen [first].”
Clean energy: it’s not rocket science http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/news/local/news/general/clean-energy-its-not-rocket-science/2537793.aspx BY TRACEY PRISK, 30 Apr, 2012 SOLAR energy was the hot topic at the 100 per cent Clean Energy Roadshow in Orange last week. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 