Australian government standing firm on Renewable Energy Target (RET)
The Coalition has a bipartisan commitment to the 20 per cent RET.
But Mr Combet said a renewable energy target without a carbon price would increase the economic cost of achieving that goal.
Combet rejects calls for Renewable Energy Target changes BY: SID MAHER : The Australian July 25, 2012 GREG Combet has rejected calls for changes to the Renewable Energy Target, declaring the government is committed to what it legislated.
The Climate Change Minister’s comments amount to a direct rejection to calls from industry players such as Origin Energy for the RET’s large scale quota of 41,000TW/hrs of electricity from renewable sources to be reviewed.
Under the RET, 20 per cent of electricity must be generated from renewable sources by 2020. Continue reading
Australians support renewable energy, despite the vitriolic campaign against climate scientists,
Australians’ strong renewables backing, Climate Spectator, 25 Jul 2012, Lane Crockett As reported yesterday, the Climate Institute launched Climate of the Nation 2012 which is an annual research piece that seeks to understand the attitudes of Australians regarding climate change and energy.
While this year’s report finds that Australians are exhausted by the politics around climate policy and are somewhat confused on climate change science their vision of a low-carbon future is crystal clear: they want renewable energy.
Increasing the amount of renewable energy is perceived as the most effective greenhouse gas emission reduction policy, which along with energy efficiency rated well ahead of other suggested measures.
For the last few years climate change and its solutions have been the target of a well-oiled campaign against innovation, efficiency and clean energy investment. This campaign has included vitriolic attacks directed at highly regarded members of the scientific community, vain attempts to debunk well-established climate change science and highly inaccurate and
misleading claims made about possible solutions such as renewable
energy. Continue reading
Australian Uranium Association resigned to inevitable fall in uranium sales
Simon Clarke, communications director for the Australian Uranium Association, said the Fukushima incident had hurt demand for Australian uranium, and the new policy would see an overall reduction in exports
“We would very much prefer to have the whole Japanese nuclear fleet back in the game, but obviously that’s not going to happen,” he said……would mean a fall in sales for Australian producers ERA and BHP Billiton.
Tetsunari Iida, who heads Japan’s Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, hopes Japan can become a leader in renewable technology and come to depend solely on renewable sources.
Gas the winner as Japan crafts its post-tsunami energy plan BY: RICK WALLACE The Australian July 26, 2012 “…the nation looks to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy after the Fukushima disaster. The policy will not be released for at least another month, but three scenarios have emerged from the sometimes fractious deliberations.
The impact on Australia — which provides 20 per cent of Japan’s natural gas, 66 per cent of its thermal coal and more than one quarter of its uranium — will be slightly different in each case. Continue reading
Little demand in uranium market. as prices continue their downward slide
Uranium, Two Pounds For A Benny International Business Times, July 24, 2012 By Andrew Nelson It was yet another dull week on the spot uranium market last week, marked by slim volumes and another minor price decline. As of Friday, a US$100 bill sporting the inscrutable face of Benjamin Franklin, will now buy you two pounds of uranium.
Industry analyst TradeTech reported just 3 transactions last week, with only 250,000 pounds changing hands. Also affecting trading was news that Honeywell will not restart production at its Metropolis Works conversion facility, operated by ConverDyn. The company said the plant could remain closed for as long as 12-15 months in order to
undertake safety upgrades ordered by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission…….
Whether the news is relevant or not to the daily grind of the uranium spot trading, it certainly did a good job of
introducing even more uncertainty into what remains a very tentative market. The end result of low volumes, at least one motivated sell and new uncertainly was a US$0.25 decline in TradeTech’s Weekly U3O8 Spot Price Indicator to US$50.00.
There was no activity and only a little demand in the term market. None of it was new and all of it is coming from non-US utilities. TradeTech’s mid-term and long-term indicators remained unchanged at US$54.00 and US$61.00 respectively….
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/366001/20120724/uranium-two-pounds-for-a-benny.htm#.UBGVnGGe5dM
Water in basement of Fukushima reactor No.1 rising, following typhoon
Typhoon increases level of radioactive water in Reactor No. 1 basement by 17 inches in a day — Likely to continue rising http://enenews.com/typhoon-increases-level-of-radioactive-water-in-reactor-no-1-basment-by-almost-two-feet-in-a-day-likely-to-continue-rising July 21st, 2011 By ENENews Heavy rain brought by a tropical storm has increased the
level of radioactive contaminated water at the basements of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
Tokyo Electric Power Company or TEPCO, the plant’s operator, says that at 7 AM local time on Thursday, the level of contaminated water pooled at the basement of the building of the No. 1 reactor was 44 centimeters [17.3 inches] up from the previous day.
But it is likely that the level of water will continue to rise for the time being. TEPCO says they are monitoring the situation.
Fukushima Unit 2 water in basement 10 times more radioactive than in Unit 1
Unit 2 water 10 times more radioactive than Unit 1 — 47,000,000 becquerels per liter in turbine room basement July 25th, 2012 By ENENews Nuclides Analysis Result of the Accumulated Water in the Turbine BuildingBasement at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Tepco Published July 23, 2012 Sample Taken: July 10, 2012
Cs-137 4,300,000 becquerels per liter (Bq/l) in water inside Unit 1 Turbine Building basement
47,000,000 Bq/l in water inside Unit 2 Turbine Building basement
Cs-134 2,700,000 Bq/l in water inside Unit 1 Turbine Building basement
29,000,000 Bq/l in water inside Unit 2 Turbine Building basement 1 cm³ = 1 milliliter…….
http://enenews.com/unit-2-water-10-times-more-radioactive-than-unit-1-47000000-becquerels-per-liter-in-turbine-room-basement
Tony Abbott ignorant about China’s carbon pricing
Abbott less informed than communists: govt
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/abbott-less-informed-than-communists-govt/story-fn3dxiwe-1226434686272: AAP July 25, 2012 OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has shown he knows less about market economics than China’s communist party, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says. Mr Combet has used a clean energy conference in Sydney to sell the government’s carbon tax and accuse Tony Abbott of not knowing anything about China’s action on carbon pricing.
Mr Abbott had shown complete ignorance about the steps China was taking to price carbon during his recent trip to Beijing, Mr Combet said on Wednesday. “Even the Chinese communist party (has) a better grasp of market economics then the leader of the Liberal Party does,” he said.
Mr Combet said Australia would be left behind by 2020 if it didn’t put a price on carbon dioxide. “There will be binding obligations on all major emitters to reduce emissions from 2020 and we need to prepare for it,” he told the conference.
“If we do nothing we will be hit with the back of an axe.” To meet its 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020, Australia
needed a carbon price as well as other schemes such as renewable energy targets and carbon farming initiatives, Mr Combet said. “Just as no single clean energy technology is a silver bullet, you can’t just pick one or two of these policies and drive to a clean energy future,” the minister told the conference.
So if Tony Abbott says the opposition will “get rid of the carbon price … it is not going to work.”
Australia’s exceptional potential for wave energy
AUDIO Australia to catch the wave and hang ten (per cent that is) July 25, 2012 Australia’s coast line in the Southern Ocean has the best wave resources. Particular areas to note are the west coast of Tasmania, the southern ocean in Victoria and south-west Western Australia. (Phys.org) –– Australia’s oceans hold a bounty of energy and could produce 24-hour power, either from the tides, currents or waves.
A study by CSIRO has found that the waves in the ocean could supply about 10 per cent of Australia’s electricity by 2050. This is equivalent to powering a city the size of Melbourne. Ian Cresswell, Director CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship said understanding the potential of this clean, sustainable energy source was important for CSIRO. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 