How embarassing for Australia’s politicians! Solar power will influence election results
Solar’s irresistible political spell, CLIMATE SPECTATOR: Tristan Edis, 6 Nov 2012 “….. the seats 
most likely to influence who takes the reins of government. Not all the seats have high solar PV penetration, (indeed it seems some of the highest solar PV penetration is in safe regional Liberal and National Party seats). But as an overall average, around one in 10 households have a solar PV system. Even in Victoria, where solar PV tends to be less popular than the sunnier states, all the marginal seats have at least one in 20 households with solar PV. Continue reading
Aboriginal traditional owners kept in the dark about a plan to change proposed nuclear waste dump site
NLC in talks about alternate nuclear waste site, ABC News By Michael Coggan, 6 Nov 12 :
The Northern Land Council has confirmed it is about to start formal talks about a new site for a 
proposed nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory. The Federal Government is planning to build a national nuclear waste dump in the Territory.
The only site nominated is on Aboriginal land at Muckaty Station, about 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek.
That nomination is being challenged in the Federal Court by local land owners opposed to the dump.
NLC chairman Wali Wunungmurra has confirmed that formal consultations will begin this week about a proposed second site on a different section of land on Muckaty Station. The consultation process is expected to continue into next year.
Chief Minister Terry Mills says he will talk with the Northern Land Council about the move.
He says there needs to be an alternative site for a national waste dump if the legal challenge is successful……
Opponents of any nuclear waste facility being built in the Territory say Aboriginal traditional owners have not been told about a meeting to discuss a new site.
Natalie Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Alliance says more people should’ve been told about the consultations.
“It is disappointing that, once again, the Northern Land Council does not seem to be very broadly notifying people about this meeting,” she said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-06/nlc-nuclear-wastle-dump-talks-muckaty-station/4355986?section=nt
Australia is way behind on centralised solar energy – lack of political vision
Solar Insights: How Australia trails the world in big solar REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 6 November 2012 How is it that the Energy Minister in London, who possibly spends much of his time dressed in Wellington Boots and a sou’wester, should articulate a solar vision for the UK vastly more ambitious than anything expressed by a government minister in Australia? Continue reading
Danger to Townsville’s water supply, if Ben Lomond uranium mine is re-opened
Labor raises concern over north Qld uranium mine
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-06/labor-concern-over-north-qld-uranium-mine/4356092?section=business By Megan Woodward, 6 Nov 12 The Queensland Opposition has warned any resumption of uranium mining near Townsville in the state’s north risked contaminating the city’s water supply.
The State Government recently announced plans to resume uranium mining across Queensland.
The Ben Lomond uranium mine, 50 kilometres west of Townsville, closed more than 20 years ago amid serious environmental concerns. The mine is in the Thuringowa electorate of Liberal National Party (LNP) MP Sam Cox.
Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin today called on Mr Cox to become more involved in any proposals to reopen the mine. Mr Mulherin says nearby residents needed a guarantee environmental concerns do not still exist.
“The concerns related to the tail dams, cyclonic rain events and the impact the heavy metals and radioactive materials,” he said. Mr Mulherin says when the mine was closed there was concern radioactive tailings would reach the Burdekin River, which supplies water to the Townsville region.
The ABC has approached Mr Cox for comment.
India’s continuing nuclear power problems: illegalities about Kudankulam reactors
Kudankulam on shaky legal ground http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/kudankulam-on-shaky-legal-ground/article4064951.ece D. NAGASAILA
V. SURESH 5 Nov Violations of Coastal Regulation Zone and Environmental Impact Assessment notifications make official claims questionable
The debate over nuclear energy will go on, but the issue with the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is one of the several illegalities on which it is founded. Continue reading
Australia’s solar voters: a new phenomenon challenging politicians
The leading electorate with the most rooftop solar systems is Wright in south-east Queensland, held by the Liberal National Party’s Scott Buchholz. In second place — for both PV and hot water systems — is Lalor, the seat held by Prime Minister Julia Gillard (25,829 systems)..
The rise of the solar voter — they’re not where you think Crikey, GILES PARKINSON | NOV 05, 2012 Analysis shows where Australia’s solar panels are — and it’s not in the inner-city latte set. Some politicians may need to rethink their view on support for solar, writes Giles Parkinson of RenewEconomy. For years, some politicians have wanted to dismiss rooftop solar PV (and other renewables), as a middle-class fetish for wanting to be green. The last thing they would have expected was solar emerging as a political issue, not just on the state and national scale, but in their own electorates.
They were mistaken. Continue reading
USA pressure on Japan to keep nuclear power
“Americans cannot afford from a security standpoint to have Japan abandon nuclear power. It’s too important to us.”
U.S. needs Japan to remain nuclear, expert says Relations in region not likely to change with Obama or Romney, even in China ties Japan Times, By TAKASHI KITAZUME, 3 Nov 12 A “zero-nuclear” Japan will be a serious concern for the United States as its key ally both from economic and security standpoints, the chief of an influential U.S. think tank said at a recent seminar on Japan-U.S. relations. Continue reading
A fatal idea – super fast space travel, with ionising radiation
Super-Fast Space Travel Would Kill You In Minutes http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/11/super-fast-space-travel-would-kill-you-in-minutes/ JAMIE CONDLIFFE, 6 Nov 12, Everyone thinks it would be cool to travel at the speed of light, which is why scientists devote their lives to working out if it would be possible and NASA is trying to develop its own warp drive. But easy, tiger: turns out super-fast space travel would be fatal. A paper published in Natural Science brings some boring common sense to the speed-of-light-travel table. In order to travel huge distances in next to no time, people need to travel close to the speed of light. In so doing, travellers cover extremely large distances very quickly, and thanks to the quirks of relativity, it would feel like it took mere minutes because of an effect known as time dilation , which squashes perceived time.
The trouble is that travelling close to the speed of light brings about other effects too. In Natural Science , Edelstein and Edelstein point out that hydrogen in any craft cable of travelling at the speed of light would also prevent it from travelling at the speed of light. They explain :
Unfortunately, as spaceship velocities approach the speed of light, interstellar hydrogen H, although only present at a density of approximately 1.8 atoms/cm3, turns into intense radiation that would quickly kill passengers and destroy electronic instrumentation. In addition, the energy loss of ionizing radiation passing through the ship’s hull represents an increasing heat load that necessitates large expenditures of energy to cool the ship.
In other words, travel close to the speed of light and you’ll be bombarded with so much radiation that you kick the bucket. The knock-on effect is that even if it’s possible to create a craft capable of travelling close the speed of light, it wouldn’t be able to transport people.
Instead, there’s a natural speed limit imposed by safe levels of radiation due to hydrogen, which means humans couldn’t travel faster than half the speed of light unless they were willing to die almost immediately. Dammit. [Natural Science ]
SunPower’s solar leasing plans for Australia
Solar Insights: How Australia trails the world in big solar REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 6 November 2012 “…..SunPower’s plans for Australia SunPower gave some interesting insight into the solar leasing business, which it dominates in the US and which is starting to enter the Australian market. SunPower said it accounts for 40 per cent of solar leases in California – the biggest market in the US, and solar leases account for two thirds of the residential market. Amazingly, the average sized system on household rooftops is 7.9kW – that compares to 2.2kW in Australia.
CEO Tom Werner described the leasing market this way: “Leasing is really an LCOE (levellised cost of energy), or cents per kilowatt hour-based decision. Put another way, the consumer is not leasing a solar system, but buying energy over a period of time for a set price.” He believes that some of the first entrants in the solar leasing market will start securitizing their residential assets in coming quarters – a sure sign of the maturity in the industry, and the interest of the financial sector.
CFO Charles Boynton made a brief reference to the Australian market, which it sees as the most promising in Asia after Japan. “We think upside potential in Australia is rather significant,” he said. Si\unPower recently bought a major share in Australian renewable energy retailer Diamond Energy, Boynton said the size of the transaction was not significant, but the strategy was – and the purchase would enable the company to sell energy directly to customers – sort of a local variation of the US leasing model.
SunPower is also building the 250MW California Valley Solar Ranch project, and in September connected the first 22MW to the grid. So far, 150MW has been built. It is currently financing two other projects in California totaling 600MW. And to give an idea of the extent of the distributed and commercial sector in the US, tt also recently connected a 4MW system to a school district in California. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/solar-insights-how-australia-trails-the-world-in-big-solar-32446
Uranium’s Worst Month Since Fukushima
Bikini Atoll – a paradise turned into hell by atomic bomb testing
PARADISE WITH AN ASTERISK, OUTSIDE MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 17, 2012 Bikini Atoll, a tiny ring of islands halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a world-class diving destination and home to one of the Pacific’s last great fishing grounds. So where are all the tourists? Welcome to heaven on earth, where the vestiges of hell lie just below the surface. Continue reading
Uranium One – posts market loss
Uranium One posts 3Q loss despite production increase 11/5/2012 Stockhouse Editorial Uranium One Inc. (TSX: T.UUU, Stock Forum) announced its third quarter financial results on Monday and said total production rose 23% to 3.1 million pounds from 2.5 million pounds in the year earlier period.
Uranium One is a Toronto-based company with assets in Kazakhstan, the United States and Australia…..
The company posted a net loss of $61.6 million or 6 cents a share in the quarter. That compared to a net profit of $45.8 million or 5 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue in the quarter was $142.6 million, down from $157.7 million in the year ago period.
Down 1% Monday to $2, Uranium One has a market cap of $1.9 billion, based on 957.2 million shares outstanding. The 52-week range is $3.45 and $1.98. http://www.stockhouse.com/natural-resources-news/2012/nov/5/uranium-one-posts-3q-loss-despite-production-incre.aspx#uEqGXOEW55vDjfL4.99
Australian Solar Council Releases RET Recommendations Analysis,by Energy Matters, 6 Nov 12 The Australian Solar Council has released a detailed analysis by industry experts of the Climate Change Authority’s (CCA) draft recommendations for the Renewable Energy Target.
The Council recently expressed serious concerns relating to the Climate Change Authority’s (CCA) recommendations to slash incentives for residential solar power past what is already set to occur, i.e. the final phase-out of the Solar Credits multiplier next year.
Particularly troubling was the suggestion of introducing a “solar divider” if the cost of solar panel systems fell in the previous year; if the payback period for solar customers was less than 10 years; or if the scheme made up more than 1.5% of electricity bills…….. The full report can be viewed here. http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3452
Australia is still an attractive market for utility scale solar power – says First Solar
Australia remains one of the most attractive growth markets, along with Chile, and north and South Africa
Solar Insights: How Australia trails the world in big solar REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson on 6 November 2012 “……First Solar’s bullish on costs First Solar, by contrast, is focused almost entirely on the utility scale market. To give some idea of scale of its business, it $9 billion in project sales over the next few years, including the 550MW Topaz and Desert Sun projects in California. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 