South Australian government not affected if BHP’s Olympic Dam expansion doesn’t go ahead
“Olympic Dam doesn’t have any significant revenue for the state government,” “Olympic Dam is never going to be some sort of cash cow for the state government
Olympic Dam no cash cow for state, says Jack Snelling THE AUSTRALIAN, BY: SARAH MARTIN July 25, 2012 BHP Billiton’s $30 billion Olympic Dam mine expansion will have no revenue implications for the South Australian government, Treasurer Jack Snelling says.
In comments far removed from earlier claims that the mega-project would transform the state, Mr Snelling said the budget would not be affected if the project did not go ahead. Continue reading
Nuclear Industry turning to Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson to save its future
Virgin Nuclear? Branson asks Obama for reactor help. Sir Richard v Bill Gates? Smart Planet, By Mark Halper | July 23, 2012, Flamboyant British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has written to President Barack Obama seeking help commercializing an alternative type of nuclear reactor known as an Integral Fast Reactor……
Branson, known for his Virgin brand of media and airline companies, isn’t the only well-known billionaire advocating IFRs, also known as “fast neutron reactors,” “fast reactors,” and sometimes as “breeder reactors.” Microsoft founder Bill Gates is developing a type of fast reactor known as a traveling wave reactor, through his startup company TerraPower. Continue reading
Contractor lays off Olympic Dam workers, in view of doubts on its future
BHP reviews contractors, staff amid project uncertainty Business Spectator, 24 Jul 2012 In the latest sign that BHP Billiton Ltd may not approve the expansion of its Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine in South Australia later this year, the miner is conducting a review of contractors and staff across its mining mega-projects, looking for potential cost-saving cuts, according to The Australian Financial Review.
In the wake of BHP’s indication recently that it may not approve its three mining mega-projects before December, the company in charge of conducting a feasibility study on the $US20 billion-plus Olympic Dam project laid off several workers last week after its contract expired, according to the AFR.
The company, Jacobs Engineering, made the layoffs on the basis that it could not justify the staffing levels unless BHP’s board approved the project….. If the BHP board fails to approve the Olympic Dam project by December 15 the South Australian government will have the right to allow an indenture agreement setting royalty rates for 45 years to lapse. … http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BHP-reviews-contractors-staff-amid-project-uncerta-pd20120723-WGLXZ?OpenDocument&src=hp10&WELCOME=AUTHENTICATED%20REMEMBER
Olympic Dam expansion in doubt, say South Australian Liberals
SA Libs say Olympic Dam in doubt THE AUSTRALIAN AAP July 25, 2012 A DECLINING world economy may force BHP Billiton to delay a $30 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia, the state opposition says. Mineral Resources spokesman Mitch Williams says there is growing evidence world economic woes will prompt the company to delay the project, including an Access Economics report which points to the mining boom finishing in two years.
“There is a strong chance now that the expansion won’t go ahead next year as BHP Billiton puts the brakes on its global investments, especially long-term ones like Olympic Dam,” Mr Williams said in a statement on Wednesday.
BHP Billiton has until the end of the year to finally approve the expansion or face the need to renegotiate approvals with the state government…. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/sa-libs-say-olympic-dam-in-doubt/story-fn3dxiwe-1226434685135
Climate Change Denialism in full swing in Australia
The climate change denialists may soon to be running the asylum Independent Australia, 19 July, 2012 Anyone who places stock in safeguarding the current and future climate (and for that matter anyone who doesn’t) should prepare themselves for the risk that very soon, climate science deniers, contrarians and sceptics will be running the show, writes Graham Readfearn.
ALL the polls suggest that a Liberal-led coalition will sweep to power at next year’s Federal election in Australia — the world’s biggest exporter of coal and on track to be the biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas. Current Liberal leader Tony Abbott, if we care to remember, once described climate change as “crap“. Views shared among Abbott’s parliamentary coalition ranks are that climate science is a “leftist fad” and a “work of fiction”.
The Liberal-National Party’s new Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and his environment minister Andrew Powell are currently presiding over a massive boom in coal and gas projects. Both have said they’re unable to accept the evidence of human-caused climate change, going against the scientific findings of the country’s main science agency the CSIRO and the country’s Bureau of Meteorology, plus every major science academy on the planet. Continue reading
Australia now poised for renewable energy investment
“There is no other industry that is growing at 40% a year,” “Many countries need to change their fuel capacity and replace it with clean energy, so there are a lot of possibilities in the renewable market. And it is so much quicker and easier to build renewable generation than conventional generation.”..
Australia risks missing out on green energy investment. Crikey, by Giles Parkinson of RenewEconomy 25 July 12 Australia has already been bypassed once by the world’s leading renewable energy developers, and risks doing so again if it makes more changes to its green energy policies, according to one of the world’s biggest energy groups.
The Australian clean energy market nearly became a wasteland after the Howard government refused to extend its hugely successful start to the country’s first Renewable Energy Target, causing many international and Australian companies to leave the country and manufacturing facilities to be closed.
There are concerns of a similar flight of interest, and capital, if the government makes changes to its 2020 Renewable Energy Target, which is expected to be the bedrock for some $20 billion of investment in wind energy and solar farms in the next eight years. Continue reading
More delays for “nuclear renaissance flagship” Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant
Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant delayed again, BBC News 16 July 12 Olkiluoto 3 has been hit by repeated delays and is over budget The launch of a flagship nuclear power station in Finland has been delayed for a third time, officials say. Finnish electricity company TVO says the Olkiluoto 3 plant will not be ready by the latest deadline of 2014 and a new timetable has not yet been set. Continue reading
USA keeps Australia in the dark on its plans for Julian Assange
US pushed to clarify Assange intentions, The Age, July 25, 2012, Dylan Welch THE West Australian Labor MP Melissa Parke has called on the US Attorney-General, Eric Holder, to make a categorical statement ruling out that America is seeking to extradite the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to prosecute him for espionage.
Her call comes amid persisting public debate about whether the US has secretly convened a grand jury in Virginia with the purpose of prosecuting Mr Assange and others for a ”conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information”.
”In the light of the public information regarding a grand jury investigation, it would be helpful if the US Attorney-General would categorically state that the US has no intention of seeking the extradition of Julian Assange from Sweden,” Ms Parke told the Herald yesterday.
It was revealed in April last year a grand jury had been formed in Virginia with the likely aim of prosecuting people involved in the release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables in February 2010. A former US army intelligence analyst, Bradley Manning, has been charged with the theft and is about to face trial.
There have been no other arrests, but the US government has served orders on Twitter seeking the records of three WikiLeaks supporters and subpoenaed several people to testify before the grand jury. : http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-pushed-to-clarify-assange-intentions-20120724-22nkr.html#ixzz21gRP6UgM
Australian and USA navies co-operating to use renewable energy
Australian Navy Explores Alternative Fuels with U.S. Energy Digital 25 July 12, The US Navy joins forces with the Australian Navy in an aggressive initiative to use more alternative fuels. The Royal Australian Navy recently signed an agreement with the US Navy to explore the use of alternative fuels in a quest to reduce their dependency on foreign fossil fuels.
A Statement of Cooperation, signed by Australia’s Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, AO, CSC, RAN and the US Secretary for Navy, Ray Mabus, recognized the benefits of alternative fuels and the importance of the project in terms of national security.
The RAN’s Fleet Commander, Rear Admiral Tim Barrett, AM, CSC, RAN described the project as having enormous potential at the signing ceremony on board the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on July 19th….., this project could lead to a cheaper alternative fuel.”…. http://www.energydigital.com/green_technology/australian-navy-explores-alternative-fuels-with-us
Solar energy with molten salt storage a good option for remote mining areas in Australia
Australia risks missing out on green energy investment Crikey, by Giles Parkinson of RenewEconomy 25 July 12“……..Acciona is also one of the leading companies in concentrated solar thermal — building plants boasting parabolic trough and solar tower technologies, and recently adding molten salt storage so that such plants can become “dispatchable” like gas-fired power station
He said even solar thermal CSP is also already operating at about $150/MWh in countries with good sun, such as South Africa and Australia, and Acciona argues that this should draw the attention of big miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, which are paying $300/MWh or more for diesel at remote mine sites.
“There’s got to be a shift in mindset from having a diesel generation plant they know well and which is relatively cheap to build, to shifting towards a highly technical generation source and perhaps outsourcing the management and ownership of that asset through a third party that knows how to operate that,” Thompson said.
Mateo says PV is heading towards $100/MWh and it was interesting to note that in some countries, financing had been offered by banks without subsidies from the government, and even without power purchase agreements. In Chile, for instance, the cost of energy is $100/MWh, which allows wind and solar PV, in some instances, to compete. Mateo said there could be opportunities to combine CSP installations with solar PV….. http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/07/24/australia-risks-missing-out-on-green-energy-investment/
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 