Good news – nuclear lobby’s man, Martin Ferguson resigns from Cabinet
In all the kerfuffle of the the Labor government’s non-spill yesterday – something good emerges. At last, Australia is rid, and well rid of the Minister for promoting nuclear power, Martin Ferguson.
Supposedly Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson had his own very narrow view of what that meant.
It meant promoting nuclear and fossil fuel power. While paying lip service to renewable energy, Ferguson appeared to sabotage renewable energy at every possible turn.
Ferguson has also been notorious for being unapproachable, and particularly so, if you happened to be an Aboriginal who didn’t want nuclear waste dumping on your land.
Goodbye – Ferguson – you will not be missed! – Christina Macpherson 22 Mar 13
Saturday 23 March at 8.30 p.m – join the global switch off
Earth Hour 2013 is on at 8:30pm Saturday 23 March. Switch off for good this year and switch on to renewable energy – take the pledge at www.earthhour.org.au
Renewables: taking the heat out of the discussion March 20, 2013 by Earth Hour Australia
Before we get to that stage let’s set the record straight. Here are some of the more common myths, with some cool-headed facts…
Myth: Only coal can provide 24 hour (baseload) power
Fact: Wind and hydro can operate all hours and most energy is used during the daytime.
Of course technologies like hydro, geothermal and wind across the country can run 24 hours, so it is plain wrong to say otherwise. Also, it just so happens that the peak period for energy use – hot days in the early afternoon when everyone turns on their air-con – is also the best time for energy production from solar. Perfect!
Myth: Wind & solar are an expensive way to make energy.
Fact: Rooftop solar & some wind energy can compete with dirty energy sources on price.
The 850,000 Australian households with solar PV have already worked out that solar is cost competitive and saves them money. By 2020, the cheapest source of energy flowing into the grid is likely to be on-shore wind.
Myth: High electricity bills are because of renewable subsidies.
Fact: The largest component of electricity price rises is network charges.
The biggest contributor to price hikes over the last five years is the increasing cost of “poles and wires”. And the main reason these need to be upgraded is to cope with “peak” power – those few hours a year when it gets super hot and everyone switches on air-con.
Myth: Jobs will suffer if Australia moves to renewables by 2030.
Fact: 35,000 new jobs could be created from renewables….
Myth: Australia is a world leader in renewable energy.
Fact: Australia ranks 31st behind Paraguay (15), Mexico (17), Columbia (18), New Zealand (22) & Vietnam (24).
Myth: The carbon tax won’t help renewables.
Fact: The carbon price will make renewables cost competitive with fossil fuels.
Did you realise that at least $5 billion raised from the carbon price will be invested in renewable energy commercialisation like large scale solar. And the very nature of the carbon price – making polluting fossil fuels more expensive – will help renewable energy become more cost competitive sooner, a huge boost for future clean power and a healthier planet. Hooray!
If you want to get more info to wow your friends with your encyclopaedic knowledge on renewables, visit this page.
Earth Hour 2013 is on at 8:30pm Saturday 23 March. Switch off for good this year and switch on to renewable energy – take the pledge at www.earthhour.org.au
Uranium through Great Barrier Reef? Financial foolishness, and ecological crime!
The price tag of the uranium deposits in Queensland, if all extracted and sold is about $10 billion. A pretty big chunk of cash, but worth only a paltry two years of tourism dollars that the Great Barrier Reef brings in.
To anyone who has looked in wonderment at the fish on a reef, this is not an “Australian issue”, this is an issue that speaks to how we want to leave the world to future generations. Our kids will remember visiting a reef teeming with tropical fish, turtles and fluorescent coral, but what will they remember if it isn’t there to be seen? They sure as heck won’t remember the quick buck made by uranium mining companies a few decades previous
Radioactive scuba diving a potential new Aussie destination sport http://www.vancouverobserver.com/city/outdoors/radioactive-scuba-diving-potential-new-aussie-destination-sport Kevin Grandia Mar 19th, 2013 Okay, I am exaggerating, but only slightly, but new anti-regulation laws have recently been passed in Australia that could mean uranium will be shipped out directly over this oceanic masterpiece of nature. Continue reading
David Bradbury on the death of democracy in India: the crushing of anti nuclear activism
I’ve just been informed 30 people including the woman who helped me get to Idinthakarai have been arrested and detained by Tamil Nadu police. They joined another 54 activists who were arrested in September and have been refused bail, wasting away in dirty conditions in gaol after a big police operation invaded their village and beat the daylights out of anyone who could not run away fast enough.
David Bradbury on Idinthakarai’s anti-nuclear front line Independent Australia Posted by Sandi Keane 16 March, 2013 Award winning Australian filmmaker, David Bradbury, describes in chilling detail his visit to the epicentre of the Kudankulam anti-nuclear struggle in India – the beautiful seaside town of Idinthakarai. “…… We’re talking national security and big bikkies here – $140 billion in nuclear power contracts if the Centre Government has its way. He [ Deputy Superintendent NK Stanley Jones] repeated that the area was a prohibited zone under Section 144. I didn’t bother to draw the parallel for him that this was exactly the same rationale used by the South Australian coppers two months earlier in arbitrarily arresting people at Lizards Revenge outside Olympic Dam uranium mine.
There, SA police in similarly threatening Orwellian tones repeatedly warned us over loudspeakers, ‘You are now entering a Protective Security Zone. Under the Protective Security Act of the South Australian Parliament 2007, you are subject to arbitrary arrest, strip search and detention…’
It would seem the nuclear lobby worldwide has a special dispensation for suspending people’s normal rights of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of non-violent protest……..
The latest round of opposition to stop the opening of the Kudankulam nuclear power plants has raged for more than ten years now, with this last year seeing opposition to the Russian built nuclear power plants at Idinthakarai reach fever pitch. Continue reading
Depleted uranium’s legacy in Iraq- birth deformities, cancers
‘Falluja Babies’ and Depleted Uranium — America’s Toxic Legacy in Iraq http://www.alternet.org/world/falluja-babies-and-depleted-uranium-americas-toxic-legacy-iraq Two US-led wars in Iraq have left behind hundreds of tons of depleted uranium munitions and other toxic wastes. March 18, 2013 |
Many prominent doctors and scientists contend that DU contamination is also connected to the recent emergence of diseases that were not previously seen in Iraq, such as new illnesses in the kidney, lungs, and liver, as well as total immune system collapse. DU contamination may also be connected to the steep rise in leukaemia, renal, and anaemia cases, especially among children, being reported throughout many Iraqi governorates.
There has also been a dramatic jump in miscarriages and premature births among Iraqi women, particularly in areas where heavy US military operations occurred, such as Fallujah.
Official Iraqi government statistics show that, prior to the outbreak of the First Gulf War in 1991, the rate of cancer cases in Iraq was 40 out of 100,000 people. By 1995, it had increased to 800 out of 100,000 people, and, by 2005, it had doubled to at least 1,600 out of 100,000 people. Current estimates show the increasing trend continuing. Continue reading
How the USA’s Price Anderson Act passes nuclear industry risks on to the tax-payer
The industry would not exist at all, period, if the federal government didn’t absorb this risk. What’s more, those affected by massive radiation leaks are in no way guaranteed anything if their properties and businesses find themselves swimming in radiation.
The Truth About Radiation Joe Giambrone OpEdNews 3/20/2013 “…….Another factor that most in the public don’t know about is the Price Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act of 1957. Indemnity? That’s a curious word to be found in an act of congress, no? Why would a private for-profit electrical generating industry need the federal government to grant it “indemnity?” What does this law have to do with the nuclear power stations, perhaps in your neck of the nation?
That is quite curious, indeed. The law caps the liability of the companies that run these power plants. It shields them from the consequences of their actions, their giant dirty bombs, which are routinely operated in a reckless manner and not maintained at anything approaching a reasonable degree of safety. Plants across the United States have exceeded their 40 year initial design lifespans, and yet remain in operation with leaking pipes and worn out critical safety systems. Continue reading
Australian government funds small scale renewable energy storage
Small-scale energy storage project wins Australian Government backing PACE – Process and Control Engineering 22 March, 2013 Kevin Gomez Australian energy storage company Ecoulthas been awarded Australian Government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
The funds will be used to conduct small/ mid-sized storage project development using Deka UltraBattery technology to deliver cost effective storage solutions for homes and businesses in Australia and around the world.
This pilot will develop a battery storage system prototype for three types of deficit charge/distributed energy applications:
- Off-grid renewable power solutions (Remote Area Power Supply);
- Distributed grid connected storage to support voltage and power fluctuations that arise where there is dense concentration of small roof-top solar installations in residential areas; and
- Hybrid generation (such as diesel plus renewables) to improve fuel efficiencies.
Ecoult CEO John Wood said the ARENA grant was a strong vote of confidence in the Australian-invented technology……
The pilot project will extend the collaboration between Ecoult, its US-based parent company East Penn Manufacturing and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Research partner CSIRO, which originally invented the Deka UltraBattery technology, will also play an important role in this pilot project, developing intelligent algorithms that improve the integration of Deka Ultrabattery units with the Solar PV panels and increase the value derived from each kWh of energy storage…… http://www.pacetoday.com.au/news/small-scale-energy-storage-project-wins-australian
Wind energy backed by South Australian government
SA backs wind energy as investors hover REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath 20 March 2013 South Australia’s Premier Jay Weatherill has reaffirmed his government’s support for wind energy, saying that recent calls from within parliament for a moratorium on future wind farm development in Australia were putting investment in the industry at risk. “The government remains committed to providing ample opportunity for investment in wind energy in South Australia,” the premier told state parliament on Tuesday, adding that he would seek a vote in parliament on Wednesday backing the renewable energy sector. “Every megawatt hour of wind energy cuts about one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. Apart from the environmental benefits, wind farms also bring in vital investment to our state,” Weatherill said, pointing to the around $3 billion in wind energy investment South Australia had already attracted, as well as 842 direct jobs…… http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/mixed-greens-sa-backs-wind-energy-as-investors-hover-59380
Uranium investing remains gloomy: investors not forgetting Fukushima
Japan’s Nuclear Woes Still a Key Factor in Uranium Market, By Melissa Pistilli – Uranium Investing News, March 21, 2013,
The uranium sport price remains unchanged from last week’s indicator of $42.25 per pound U3O8, according to TradeTech. “Currently, spot uranium supply and demand are relatively in balance, with neither buyers nor sellers highly motivated to conclude transactions,” the industry consulting firm reported…….
Ongoing problems at the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant aren’t helping Japanese citizens’ perception of the safety of nuclear power. A recent power outage Monday left four fuel storage pools without fresh cooling water…..
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 